Of Mutants and Benders
by ORIONSTORM04
Summary: Chapter 14 up! Boiling Rock pt. 2! Pretty much my version of the Boiling Rock episodes. Please read and review. ZukoxOC
1. General Info

Just a head's up to anyone who will be reading this story. It is a x-over with x-men and as such the first five chapters are dedicated to that aspect of the story and is essential to the plot; so all Avatar fans be prepared to get a little X-men info. But I promise every chapter beyond chapter five will be strictly in the Avatar aspect so bear with me. Also it was brought to my attention that some Avatar fans aren't really knowledgeable with x-men lore so I will help you out. These links will give you all the information you will need to know about who these characters are and where the setting is taking place. Some of these people you will have to read father into the story to get to but I Promise all of them are in there, and if I missed anybody please tell me.I hope that this will not turn any reader off of this story and I hope that everyone knows that I'm doing this so that every one will be able to enjoy this just as much as I enjoy writing it.

These are links to the canon x-men characters and place that are in this story. If there are anymore questions that you need answered please feel free to contact me.

**People:**

Ororo Munroe aka Storm-en./wiki/Storm(MarvelComics)

T'Challa aka Black Panther-en./wiki/BlackPanther(comics)

Remy LeBeau aka Gambit- en./wiki/RemyLeBeau

Logan aka Wolverine-en./wiki/JamesHowlett

Bobby Drake aka Iceman-en./wiki/BobbyDrake

Katherine Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat-en./wiki/KatherinePryde

Elizabeth Braddock aka Psylocke-en./wiki/Psylocke

Rachel Summers-en./wiki/RachelSummers

Jean Grey-Summers aka Phoenix-en./wiki/JeanGrey

Scott Summers aka Cyclops-en./wiki/Cyclops(comics)

Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto-en./wiki/ErikMagnusLehnsherr

Charles Xavier-en./wiki/ProfessorX

Anna Marie aka Rouge-en./wiki/AnnaMarie

Bastion-en./wiki/Bastion(comics)

Omega Sentinel-en./wiki/Sentinels(comics)

**Other Marvel Canon characters:**

Peter Parker aka Spiderman-en./wiki/Spiderman

Johnny Storm aka Human Torch-en./wiki/HumanTorch

Carol Danvers aka Warbird-en./wiki/CarolDanvers

Frank Castle aka The Punisher-en./wiki/Thepunisher

**Places:**

Wakanda-en./wiki/Wakanda(Marvel)


	2. Our story begins

_**Of Mutants and Benders**_

By:Orionstorm04

_Introduction_

Disclaimer: Okay I've never done this before so here goes: I don't own X-men or Avatar they both belong to their respective deities so please don't sue me. All I own is the original idea and my character/characters. This is my first fanfic so please be kind. Right now I'll rate this story PG-13 for the graphic nature and some bad words (I'm telling mommy. Shut up Mickey). Sorry got off topic; where was I, oh yeah this will be a crossover with Avatar and X-men. If you don't like the way the story is going please I take constructive criticism so by all means assist. If you have any suggestions contact me. Please please please no flames

* * *

Location:

A heavily fortified Wakanda, home of the now deceased Black Panther, and the reigning Queen Ororo. Inside the palace walls which are sealed by ancient arcane/mutant magic.

Our story begins with Ororo, now reigning sole queen of Wakanda; surround by her most trusted and loyal advisers. These men and women were once her husband's friends. They consist of 3 men and 4 women. Also attending this meeting are the few remaining x-men: Wolverine, Bobby Drake, Kitty Pryde, and Gambit. They are discussing the fate of one of the last free civilizations on the planet. Xavier's worst dream has come to fruition; the human race, homo-sapiens had finally grown tired of the so called mutant menace. The world leaders had convened years ago to decide on a course of action to eliminate the problem of the mutant population. And in their zealous effort to destroy what were essentially their own families; they implemented the omega sentinel protocol. This protocol wiped out nearly 95 of the mutant population, which only left the countries of Wakanda and Genosha as safe havens for homo-superior. When the war began Genosha was at the forefront; lead by Magneto himself, but like any warrior he grew old and tired. He swore to himself after the death of Charles that he would not rest until his people were free, and the human race lay dead at his feet.

* * *

Ororo had grown tired over the years of this war torn reality. She had lost much over the course of a few years. Her husband never really got to know their daughter N'Dare, who was named after her grandmother, due to the fact that his life was taken when he opposed the united nation on their request to join them to eliminate the mutants. T'Challa was king of the most technologically advanced country in the world, which also had the precious metal vibranium. Most knew T'Challa would never join the opposition due to the fact that his wife herself was a mutant and so would his unborn child. The other nation couldn't risk allowing an entire nation of mutants to run unchecked so they plotted to kill T'Challa and Ororo to weaken its people moral so that they would be more susceptible to the lie of mutants killing off the king and queen.

It was a desperate ploy; one that didn't work to their advantage. Ororo decided to stay behind at home when T'Challa plane was shot down, in her devastated state Ororo created one of the biggest storms in recorded history. She later learned it was a plot by the United Nations. And the people of Wakanda; outraged by what had befallen their King demanded war upon the outside world. With little sympathy left for the human race she allied herself with the island nation of Genosha; and its leader Magneto.By this time a majority of the mutants still alive fled to Genosha including some members of the X-men. The core team had been divided in two; those who wished to take revenge on the human race, while others still thought that Xavier's dream could still work. Those who chose revenge flocked to Magneto like moths to a flame, and those more loyal to Xavier's dream of a peaceful co-existence retreated to Wakanda. Only the aforementioned members, along with Jean Grey-Summers and Scott Summers went to Ororo's nation kingdom of Wakanda. Throughout the majority of the war Wakanda served as backup to Genosha; Ororo would send aid to her ally as it was permitted.

Though angered by the assassination of her husband Storm remained firm to her belief and to Charles's dream. It was inevitable that the war would spill into her domain. The United Nations unleashed a massive assault against Genosha and in time decimated the island. Magneto was one of the last to fall but not before taking out a massive armada of Omega Sentinels. With the lost of its leader the nation fell into chaos. Those who survived fled toWakanda; the only free mutant friendly nation. Now the UN focused all its transgressions on Wakanda, desperate to end this power struggle over who had the most rights to live. With each year the humans grew more desperate, in the case of Genosha they knew what they were up against when it came to Magneto; after countless times of him attacking the rest of the world. But Ororo was another thing entirely. Though they were completely aware of what she could do with her weather manipulation powers; they had no clue as to what to do with her magical abilities. By this time Storm had accepted her lineage to the mystical arts, and as a testament of her mastery of both her mutant powers and that of her arcane abilities she had created a neigh impregnable mystical storm around her kingdom. With the help of her ruby, that was given to her by her "mother" M'Rin; she was able to have a perfect marriage of her mutant and mystical abilities thus granting her thepower to create a storm so powerful that no plane, ship, or sentinel could penetrate it.

Ororo, in essences drew her magical power from her ancestors who were all priestesses'; and as tradition dictates each priestesses' is more powerful than the one before. Ororo used her ruby to create a constant influx of power to her so that she could maintain the spell and the storm. But there were still casualties to be had in this war, while leading a mission to rescue some mutants that were still trapped on Genosha; Scott and Jean Summers lost their lives. It was to be a routine extradition, get in; get the mutants and get out, that simple. Though no one was prepared for what was awaiting them on Genosha. To maintain an even playing field the humans instituted the Arc Angel project, which essentially was the restructured version of the Super Solider Serum.

These projects gave its participants enhance physical and mental capabilities. Under the leadership of the ex-army general Gabriel Marks it became the most deadly mutant exterminating force. Gabriel and his "Arc Angels" were as ruthless and they came, they fought with an efficiency and accuracy that would leave the most seasoned X-man in a tight spot. It didn't take the Arc Angels long to plow through Jean and Scott's defense. The first objective was to take out the Phoenix; once she was gone Cyclops went into a blind rage while he witnessed the death of his wife, and in his carelessness he was an easy mark…he never stood a chance.

With their deaths Jean and Scott left and daughter named Rachel she was 10. Ororo raised the child as her own, and she and N'Dare grew up as sisters and princesses of Wakanda. As time went by and more and more mutants were kill off and more Arc Angels were been created; the Sentinels prime objective started to become distorted. The Sentinels were programmed to view mutants as the enemy and to be terminated on sight, but with the creation if the Arch Angel Project it was only rational for the mechanical abominations to see that in essence mutants were human and if that was the case the only way to protect humans form mutants they would have to stop it at the source. In time the Sentinels became self-reliant; no longer needing there maintenance performed by the humans they began to map out the new prime objective: the complete annihilation of the human race; mutant or otherwise. And that is now what the Royal Council of Wakanda has convened today for; the Sentinels have wiped out nearly every man, woman and child on the planet and now only Wakanda stands but for how long Ororo isn't sure. She has been overwhelmed and pushed to her limit having to constantly maintain the storm around her home to protect her people. She can feel herself slipping and the ruby growing tired, the council has gathered to vote on what most likely will be the nation's last stand.

To be continued...

Well thats the end of chapter one. Sooooo how did you like it, I hope you did I'm really putting some effort into this story and I hope that is comming across in my writing. And before anyone really starts to ask I know I haven't gotten to the whole Avatar crossover part and that this seems more like a X-Men fic but rest assure I'm getting to that part. I really cound't justify this being a crossover unless i have elements of both universies in this story. Next chapter I will go into more detail about T'Challa's death and the birth of Ororo and T'Challa's daughter N'Dare. Until then please read and review.


	3. Ghost of the past

_**Of Mutants and Benders**_

By: Orionstorm04

Disclaimer: As before people I don't own Avatar or X-Men same rules apply no flames but criticism welcomed. And I'd like to give a special thanks to Shadowdragon-24 for helping me to decide to write this story. And also to a special friend of mine Ana Lavallier for always being an inspiration and constant support. Thank you Ana.

**Ghost of the Past**

_Flashback_

_Internal Monologue _

_/Telepathy/_

One week; that's how long he said he would be gone for. It seemed like eons ago that T'Challa had told her those words but she could still remember them as if it were yesterday.

One Week Prior...

* * *

"I'm not exactly sure if you should be doing this T'Challa. I don't trust that the U.N. is telling you everything about the summit next week" said Ororo.

She had beentrying for weeks to persuade T'Challa to send someone else in his place to speak on behalf of Wakanda. In the past other governments hadn't been to keen on amutant friendly policy, and Wakanda was one of the nation's leading the way in human/mutant co-existence. Most countries would just rather kill first and askquestions never. But T'Challa was a very proud man; some would even say fearless when it came to the ware fare of his kingdom and its people. He would not justbe intimidated nor would he send someone else in his place to discuss matters of state for his country.

"Ororo we have discussed this several times before, I have to go. This is very important to our nation and as King I have an obligation to my people to attend this summit. I must go!" T'Challa explained to his wife.

In all truths hedidn't put too much faith in that of the other counties but as he told her this was paramount to the future of Wakanda. T'Challa paced their bedroom for whatseemed like the millionth time, but no matter how many times and how many ways he explained it to her; Ororo just didn't want to accept the fact that he was notgoing to back down form this. Finally Ororo had enough; if T'Challa thought he had to go simply because he was King then she would accompany him as his Queen.

"Fine T'Challa, if you insist on going to this summit then I will go with you. As Queen of Wakanda I have an obligation to attend also".

She knew he wouldn't go for it,they had already decided that Ororo would stay home due to her traveling that amount of distance while she was this far in her pregnancy would be an unnecessaryventure.It had taken them years to finally gain the courage it took to bring a child into the world. At first Ororo had her reservations about having a baby, she knewthat with both of them being fill-in-member to the Fantastic Four and her decision to return to the X-men a baby simply wasn't in the cards for them right now. But as time went by and Sue and Richard Reed return to their previous positions on the FF and with the ever increasing ranks of the X-men she no longer had any excuses.

Ororo watched T'Challa carefully to see if she could detect any hint of him changing his mind about going but when he finally looked at her all she saw was a definite no to her statement.

"Absolutely not Ororo; there is no way I am letting you come with me that far from Wakanda you could…." but then she cut him off

" Letting me?! T'Challa I do believe I'm a woman grown who is fully capable of making her own choices. I don't think I need your permission to accompany you to this summit. I am not a child T'Challa I don't need your constant protecting" Ororo told him.

She was fuming now. Not only was he incapable of seeing past his own stubborn pride or to see her point of view on the whole U.N. issue; now he was treating her as his child rather than his wife. T'Challa looked at Ororo pleadingly.

"I didn't mean it that way Ororo and you know it. All I was trying to say is that you know that you're at the end of your pregnancy and I just didn't want the stress of the summit pushing you into early labor" T'Challa tried to plead with his wife.

He always knew Ororo was a strong willed woman and the she really didn't need protection but he was her husband and he worried about her safety especially after she got pregnant. Ororo returned to setting on the edge of their bed. She rubbed her now swollen stomach. She knew T'Challa was right, she shouldn't be traveling that long distance nor should she be putting undue stress upon herself but she just had a really bad feeling about him going, Ororo was always one to rely on her instincts. She just kept getting this nagging feeling that there was something more to this summit that the U.N. wasn't telling.

While she sat there quietly T'Challa became worried, normally when Ororo stopped talking to him for this long it meant that he was in really big trouble and that he could be sure of two things 1) he would be sleeping alone that night in one of the many spare rooms in the palace and 2) would be Wakanda having a really bad storm that night. T'Challa knew he could probably survive one night alone but he didn't think the city could. Since her pregnancy was getting father along Ororo's mood and in turn her connection to the weather started to become more server, just last week the mid-wife thought Ororo was going into labor and due to the pains Ororo froze over half the city. With a weary sigh T'Challa turned to his wife and was about to plead his case one more time; but after being married for 5 years Ororo was able to read him like a book, and at this point she was tired of arguing on the matter.

" I know… I know, you needn't repeat yourself again my love. Although I don't agree with this I will not argue with you about it anymore". T'Challa stared into Ororo azure colored eyes questioningly as if waiting for her to finish her sentence. With a sigh Ororo also added "and no I will not accompany you to New York for the summit" she begrudgingly admitted.

With a satisfied smile and a gleam in his silver eyes T'Challa took his wife in a loving embrace and with his lips inches form hers he whispered.

"Ahsante Sana my beautiful windrider; I promise I will only be gone for one week and then I shall return to you and my precious N'Dare Jamilla Zuri Ade" T'Challa beamed as he rubbed Ororo belly.

Ororo looked at her husband still a little unsure of what the future may hold; but in all honesty did anyone know what would happen later? No so she wouldn't dwell on it; for right now she was content just to laythere in T'Challa arms and be happy.

* * *

She thought he would return home and prove her suspicions false but that wasn't the case. After nearly a three days away from Wakanda and he had not contacted her. At first she just assumed that the proceedings were just taking longer than expected, but after the fifth day she began to worry. She contacted Professor Xavier at the X-mansion to see if he had heard anything from T'Challa since he landed in America; but Charles had told her that he hadn't and that in truth he really hadn't heard anything about the summit since its convening. Charles assured Ororo that he and the X-Men would be looking into to it to make sure that T'Challa was alright.After her conversation with Charles Ororo felt a little more at ease; she knew if anything had went wrong with the meeting and if T'Challa was actually in any kind of trouble that the X-Men would be more than capable of helping him get out. But as the saying goes things are hardly ever what they seem. The X-Men had discovered that in truth the whole invitation to Wakanda form the U.N. was nothing more than a ploy to lure T'Challa and Ororo outside of their kingdom.

T'Challa had been kidnapped and beaten within an inch of his life; but had somehow managed to escape and was able to find a ship to take him back home. But the other government couldn't allow him to return. With him free he would be able to expose the nations for what they were: corrupt and at a point where they would not only imprison people with enhanced abilities but eradicate every single mutant on the planet. Ororo was home sleeping that night; but in her dreams it was like she was experiencing the pain with him. She was almost able to feel his wounds as he ran to get aboard the plan. In her dream she watched him stumble to the cockpit andfumble to try and radio any kind of help. While airborne T'Challa maneuvered the plane as if he had been a pilot his entire life, desperate to out run the heavily armed fighter jets that tailed him. He was able to get one message out before his plane was bombarded with missiles, and that was to his old team the avengers.

* * *

Ororo woke up with a pain in her heart, she felt empty and alone. A way she hadn't felt since the day she lost her parents. She felt like her world and been ripped apart and that it would never be the same again. While sitting up in her bed two guards enter her bedroom with a look on their face that could rival that of a man who had just lost a brother. She didn't need for them to tell her what had happened she already knew, and in her pain and anguish she let her powers exploded through her. Ororo's eyes whited over and her hair rose form the amount of static electricity she was generating. Outside the sky reflected her anger and sorrow, thunderheads rows miles up into the atmosphere and lightning was begging to be released to do harm to those who hurt its mistress. Torrential rains began to fall to the earth scourging the landscape to the point that it seemed that nothing ever grew there, the winds also began to pick up; uprooting trees that had been growing for centuries. The sudden influx of power and stress pushed Ororo into early labor; it was ironic how fate seemed to work. The day Ororo lost her husband was the day her daughter was born. She nearly broke down when she say the baby girl laying in her arms, she was her mother made over with the same milk chocolate colored skin and silvery white hair that was a mystical trait that all women in Ororo's family shared. But it was when the baby opened her eyes that truly brought Ororo to tears; the baby had the same silver eyes of her father.

To be continued...

Okay people that was the end of chapter two. I know it was a little slow and long winded I just wanted to give you a little back story to T'Challa death. Also when T'Challa tells Ororo "Ahsante Sana" that is Swahili for thank you very much. Also in regards to their daughters name: N'Dare is the name of Ororo's mother and Jamilla is Arabic while Zuri is African meaning beautiful and Ade would be considered her surname which is also African for royal one. As always I ask you to please read and review and if you have some points of interest please don't hesitate to contact me.


	4. Sunset

_**Of Mutants and Benders**_

By: Orionstorm04

_**Disclaimer: You know the drill when it comes to these things I don't own Avatar or X-Men blah blah blah. Also I would like to state that in the next couple of chapters is when we will finally get to the Avatar section of the lil crossover so please be patient. Like I said in a previous author's not I can't really consider this a crossover if I focus mainly on one universe and not the other. Read and Review.**_

_**Sunset**_

"Your Majesty?"

She was reliving those days again. Ororo was staring blankly into space; not even aware that her senior advisor Azizi was talking to her. It seemed to be happening more and more lately, she would start to lose focus on what she was doing at the moment and she would always relive that devastating week leading up to T'Challa death.

"Roro are you there darlin?" came the gruff voice of Logan; better known as the Wolverine.

That brought her out of her trance and when her eyes regained focus she was staring into the faces of her very concerned councilmen and former teammates.With a slight shake of her head Ororo regained her composure and offered a reassuring smile to her friends.

"Oh….. I'm sorry… I was just checking and reinforcing the storm. There is nothing to worry about." she offered.

The other didn't look too convinced while staring at her, but it was Ashanti who broke the silence between all of them.

"That is exactly why we have called this meeting you Highness. It has come to all of our attentions that you have had to constantly reinforce the storms surrounding Wakanda. When you first implemented these types of defense around the city you rarely had a problem maintaining them, now it seems that every day you have to correct the problem" Ashanti stated calmly and with a hint of concern. Too bad everyone couldn't maintain their cool.

"Hey now; fa da pas' five years Stormy here has been keepin dis storm going, and now dat she slips up once you people got a problem. Well Remy aint gon listen ta dis femme run of by da mouf; so he suggestion she keep it closed" Gambit stated.

While Gambit shot death glares at the woman he just couldn't keep from thinking.

"Who dis woman tink she is, bad moufing ma Stormy like dat? Hell if I wasn't such a gentleman I'd show da femme what for."

Ashanti was not about to be put upon by some lowly little American 'street rat'.

"I was not bad mouthing her as you so eloquently put it, I was simply stating the obvious. Though I could see how something so simple would elude you since you are 'huna akili'" she stated venomously.

It was no secret amongst the councilmen or the X-men that Ashanti and Remy LeBeau didn't like each other much but no one could drag out of them why. Remy jumped out of his seat as fast as lighting ready to verbally abuse the woman across from him.

"Look here lady; and I used dat term lightly. Remy may not be able ta speak da language; but he recognize an insult when he hear one." Gambit's nostrils were flaring he was so angry.

" Fa da past 5 years she be holding dis storm and dere aint been no problem so I don't see why you tink you can come up in here and act as if dere is."

Ashanti's friend Nia was well on her way to defending her friends against this uncivilized cretin when Ororo silenced them all.

"Enough!!" Ororo commanded "I will hear no more of this senseless argument" she was staring pointedly at Remy.

"But Stormy ya don't think imma let dis self-absorbed…" but Ororo cut him off.

"And Remy I have asked you a thousand times not to call me by that ridiculous name." Even in her annoyance Ororo couldn't keep the small smile from her face, after all these years he still insisted on referring toher as 'Stormy' to her constant annoyance. The smile didn't go unnoticed by Remy and just as he drug his gaze from the two women opposite him he flash Ororo a devilish grin. Just as Remy was to rebut her Ororo raised her hand in silence.

"Ashanti is correct as; of late I have had some trouble maintaining my focus over the storm…" Ashanti had a self-satisfied smile on her face and was gleaming over at Gambit before Ororo started to address her.

"…though I have been having trouble with my focus; there is no cause for alarm. I have simply been a little tired lately, nothing that a good night's rest won't remedy." Now it was Remy's turn to smile while he looked at Ashanti, but then Kawame interjected.

"But my Queen even if it is only rest you need should we not think of some form of alternative protection…just in case the storm defaults?" Kawame was Ororo second advisor next to Azizi, both men had been close friends with T'Challa while he was alive and she valued their opinion. This time it was Bobby Drake's (also known as Iceman) turn to ruffle some feathers

"Didn't she just say that all she would need is some rest. Jeez normally I'm the one with a short attention span." Next to him Kitty Pryde rolled her eyes and began to address the statement before Kawame could.

"That's not the point Drake. Kawame is right, if Storm is having trouble maintaining her storms due to fatigue we should try to come up with an alternate way to protect the city so that she can rest." It was Azizi who responded to Kitty's statement.

"Well it is good to see that some here is capable of carrying on an intelligent conversation, rather than letting their stupidity show." And for the first time since him asking Ororo if she was alright Wolverine spoke.

"Watch it bub…" he snarled "Dems fightin words."

Wolverine proved his point by extending his claws on his right hand and waving them in Azizi's direction. Ororo sighed and placed her hands on either side of her of her temples and began to message them. It was like listening to adolescent prepubescent children, they way they carried on instead of a group of intelligent adults. She didn't know how much longer she would be able to take the constant bickering before her head explode.

"That is enough Logan..." once again Ororo sighed felling suddenly tired

"It seems as though we shall get nowhere on the matter today. We are all tired and it is showing in our mood." Ororo took the time to look at each of them in turn, and finally resting on Remy.

"We shall adjourn for the day and pick up the proceedings in a day or so; once we have all had time to rest." The seven council members all rose from the table and bowed to their Queen

"As you wish your Majesty; we shall resume the meeting in two days." Azizi answered and they left the room leaving only the former X-men alone with Ororo.

Removing her headdress Ororo let out a very deep audible sigh. The Crown of Wakanda that Ororo wore was similar to the tiara that she wore when she originally joined the X-Men; of course this one was more lavishly designed. As opposed to the onyx colored tiara; her current Crown was decked out in the finest jewels that were set into Vibranium. As beautiful as the piece was it normally tended to give her a headache carrying around such weight on her head, besides she was amongst her friends; which meant she didn't feel the need to perpetuate the regal queen as she had to around the council.

"Man Storm I thought you were gonnafry Gambit butt good for that little display back there." Bobby said walking towards Ororo.

"Nah she wouldn't dare; she love Remy to much ta do dat." Stated the Cajun; he knew he was pushing his luck by arguing with the council,but he wouldn't be Gambit if he didn't.

Ororo tried to maintain the straight face she had, but staring at Remy the way he was; all pleased with himself she could feel the façade dropping. Showing a rare smile Ororo said with a chuckle.

"Really Gambit, love is such a strong word. It's more like tolerance than anything else." Gambit reached for his heart theatrically and put on the most sincere hurt expression that he could muster

"Aww Stormy ya wound me."

Which he then followed up with a hearty laugh that was followed by his teammates; even Logan cracked a smile. Ororo couldn't keep herself from laughing, it had been so long since she really felt this at ease and she knew it was because her friends were there. As the laughter died down and everyone regained their composer Kitty spoke.

"Seriously though Ororo I think the Kawame made a really good point by suggesting that we have a backup plan just in case something happens and you can't keep the storm." Kitty watched as Ororo walked over to the window overlooking the court yard to the palace, and she could have sworn she seen tears in Ororo's eyes.

"I know Kitten…" Ororo said while still looking out the window. Kitty walked over to her a placed her hand on her friends shoulder.

"Ororo is something wrong you seem a little off lately."

Finally turning from the window Ororo started at the woman she has know since she was a teenager, and tried to be as reassuring as possible.

"Yes Kitty I'm fine. I'm just a little tired that's all…" Kitty started and Ororo and for the first time notice how weak she looked.

"Really Kitten its nothing." Walking away from the window Ororo spoke to all of them "I think we should all get some rest…take the rest of the day off to relax and enjoy life." It was Bobby who spoke first.

"Hell yeah…now that's what I'm talking about; the rest of the day to do nothing and just lounge about." Kitty just started at Bobby as though he just said 2+2 is 4.

"Honestly Bobby how does that change what you do on a normal day?" she said while dragging the man out of the hall.

Remy just followed behind them with an amused smile on his face mumbling something about needing a smoke. Ororo turned back to the window and started to look out at the landscape of the city. It truly was beautiful at sunset, watching the sun slowly disappear beneath the horizon. The city hadn't changed much over the past twenty years that Ororo has lived there; which was somewhat funny considering that just beyond those ominous storm clouds lay an entire armada of Omega Sentinels waiting to destroy everything within the city walls.

"Penny for ya thoughts darlin" came Wolverine's voice, Ororo's hand instinctively went to her heart.

"Logan you startled me." She then creased her brow in confusion. "I thought you left with the others?"

Logan simply lit his cigar and started to walk towards Ororo to look out the window also. At first he made no attempt to answer her question, it seemed he was content to just smoke his cigar and look out at the city buzzing below them. Then he finally looked at her, and his eyes held one single emotion in them: and that was truth.

"I know there is more to you being tired than you're letting on 'Ro."

He continued to look her directly in the eyes searching for conformation, but Ororo was quick to turn away. She was wondering how long it would take him to notice the changes within her. She had known Logan for over twenty years and she also knew that his nose and his instincts rarely ever led him wrong; but still that didn't mean she couldn't pretend that he was off base.

"I have no idea what you mean Logan. My explanation is simply that; I am tired."

Ororo turned back to him with a defiant look in her eyes; daring him to say differently. But Wolverine wasn't one to back down from anything, let alone a woman he considers a close friend.

"Thats bullshit darlin and we both know it. My nose doesn't lie and I can smell the fear and fatigue on ya a mile away."

Ororo facial feature slowly started to soften she knew she couldn't like to him; not when he could tell if you were telling the truth by listening to your heart rate.

"I haven't really been able to tell what is wrong with me honestly." She stated with honesty in her voice.

Logan didn't say a word all he did was stand there and listen to his friend tell him about her current problems.

"I keep finding myself losing focus, I can't seem to concentrate on anything and it has been a chore for me to stay constantly aware of the storm around Wakanda." Ororo then began to pace around the room nervously. Logan had never seen her nervous about anything and that included her marriage.

" I find myself slipping with my powers and I also can feel the Ruby growing tired and I don't know what to do." By this time Ororo didn't even try to hide the worry and the tears from her face.

She was scared; scared that she wouldn't be able to protect her people. Scared that she wouldn't be able to protect her daughter; her only link left to T'Challa. Wolverine immediately rushed to her side to wrap her in his embrace while he gently stroked her hair.

"Shhh…it's okay to cry Roro; I'm here its okay." She buried her face in his chest and let out one sob after the other; desperately clinging to his shirt, as if she let go she would lose all grip with realty.

"What are we going to do Logan? How long do you think it will take the sentinel to notice that the storms are losing strength and that they are now capable of traveling through them?"

Wolverine leaned back from her a little to stare into her eye, he never thought he would live to see the day that Ororo Munroe would be so lost as to ask for help; but today was that day and he would be a true friend and stand by her and give his advice.

"I aint sure darlin, but I can promise ya this: Me, Gumbo, the Popsicle, and Pryde won't leave your side. No matter what happens we're always her for ya Storm." With tearful eyes Ororo looked up at one of her oldest friends and found herself truly lost for words; here was Logan telling her that through whatever happened that him and the others would always be there with her. All Ororo could manage was a tearful.

"Thank You".

To be continued...

_**Author's notes: Well I finished chapter three. I had to stay up all night to write this chapter, my muse wouldn't allow me to sleep before it was done. Now to recap on this delightful chapter: when Ashanti refers to Remy as a '**__**huna akili' that I Swahili for without a brain. Also when Wolverine is talking to Ororo he is nameing Gambit, Bobby and Kitty that is his nicknames for them. And I know I didn't give names to the other man and the other two women I just thought that it would be overdoing it if I had them all arguing with the X-Men. Next chapter I will finally introduce my character N'Dare who will ( in future chapters be a main character) and also Rachel. We will also see the upcoming final battle between mutants and the Omega Sentinels. Ohhhh the climax; I'm tingling all over. So until next time **__**please be courteous and review; I do love writing but I also love a nice review from you the readers, it helps me stay motivated.**_


	5. Happy Birthday

_**Of Mutants and Benders**_

By: Orionstorm04

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men I only own the original idea and my OC's. Please read and review, hope you enjoy.**_

_**Happy Birthday**_

One thing that could be said about the palace courtyard was that it was not only beautiful but peaceful. From the wide variety of plants to the exotic birds, that flew overhead; one could come here and be at peace. And to anyone who was just leisurely passing; that would have been their conclusion upon seeing the lavender haired Asian woman with a read tattoo over her left eye, standing in the center of the courtyard; the perfect picture of serenity. Though the only thing that would have garnered the woman any attention would have been her choice in clothing, dressed in an all-in-one dark blue and purple skin tight suit. While standing there the woman looked to be in some sort of meditative state; simply enjoying her surroundings.

No person could have even guessed what would have happened next, without warning the large panther statue ten feet behind the woman rose slightly into the air and hurdled its way towards her. It seemed as though the lavender haired woman didn't notice as she made no effort to even move a muscle to dodge the deadly projectile. Then without warning the woman hastily turned around and in a blink of an eye materialized a katana, with a glowing magenta aura; in the palm of her right hand and with deadly speed and accuracy sliced the eight foot tall statue in half, with each half falling on either side behind her.

With eyes to match her lavender hair the woman carefully scanned her surrounding trying to locate her assailants. After years of training she knew it would only be a matter of time until she located where the person was who decided to launch a two tone statue at her, and soon her gazed shifted to the right where she picked up on movement in the shrubs along the far wall of the courtyard. The lavender haired woman smiled wirily and whispered "gottcha" then without warning herassailant came barreling out of her hiding place.

This new woman was at least half the others age, she couldn't be over the age of 17 and sported green skin tight spandex shorts and a sports bra to match; which complimented her peaches and cream completion, emerald eyes and flaming red shortly cropped hair. With a speed that had been honed over years of training the redhead withdrew two daggers that were strapped to both her thighs and sent them directly toward the other woman. Using her katana the lavender haired woman managed to deflect both the daggers to send one into the ground a foot away and the other into a nearby tree.

Using the momentary distraction that her weapons afforded her the redhead took to the offensive and began to launch a barrage of punches and jabs. At first the lavender haired woman was thrown off by the sudden attacks but after a few dodges managed to get her footing and soon had her would-be-attacker on the defensive. The tides managed to turn rather quickly in their little battle. At first the lavender haired woman would advance on the other with a quick session of kicks, but when she noticed that the teenager was fully capable of blocking her attacks she then opted to use her weapon of choice. It was almost like a test to gauge the others skill in evading her attack; the lavender haired woman had to admit that the redhead was good at dodging, but for how long? Soon she saw her opening; the lavender haired woman managed to swing her katana directly for the redhead's head, but she knew she would be able to duck in time to avoid the strike; but wouldn't be able to avoid the swiping kick to her legs.

With a gasp the redhead landed with a hard thud on the ground; momentarily winded when she opened her eyes and was meet with a sword being plunged towards her heart. The redhead closed her eyes yet again; awaiting the blow that would end her life but it never came. Slowly she opened one eye at a time to see why hadn't the attack happened, and when she did she was meet with the sight of another woman around the same age as her with the most stunning locks of silvery-white hair that was done in a French braid that hung to just below her waist line and also left a few strands to frame here beautiful face that made her silver eyes seem to sparkle, and wearing a brown loin cloth with a matching bikini top holding the lavender haired woman's wrist; preventing her from delivering her death blow. In her state of shock the redhead was only able to get out a single word.

"N'Dare…" she said it almost like a prayer.

Using her strength N'Dare managed to push the lavender haired woman back a few feet and commented to her friend.

"Jeez Rach it seems I can't leave you alone for five minutes without you almost getting yourself killed."

Even thought the situation was very serious N'Dare managed to still say it with a hint of amusement and a small smile on her face. Before the lavenderhaired woman could get over the sudden arrival of another opponent, N'Dare rushed towards her. Reaching for her waist N'Dare removed a foot long platinum colored rod that was loosely held by a silver chain. And with a flick and a twirl of her wrist the baton extended itself until it reached a least six feet long. Now with her weapon at the ready N'Dare was prepared to deliver some serious damage.

From her position on the ground Rachel watched as N'Dare effortlessly parried the attacks from the lavender haired woman's  
katana. Rachel couldn't keep the smile off her face as she thought to herself.

"ooohhhh no you don't N'Dare… I won't let you have all the fun."

Looking around for her daggers Rachel managed to spot one on the ground and the other a good distance away lodged in a tree, with her hands outstretched she telekinetically summoned her weapons and got to her feet to assist her friend. Though N'Dare didn't need help really as she continued to use her Bo staff to continuously keep her target off balance, but as the lavender haired woman went to take a swing at her N'Dare sidestepped her to allow Rachel to hit her with a round house kick to the jaw sending her flying backwards. The woman was able to land on her feet after the heavy blow that she was sure should have taken off her head, and took several blinks to remove the spots that had formed in front of her eyes.

At that time Rachel had began to advance on her with such speed and agility that the woman barely had time to react, but years of training allowed for her reflexes and instincts to kick in, giving her just enough time to send her katana to the girls throat. But just as swiftly as she began her advancement, Rachel quickly halted ducking the swing and performing a split in front of the woman. But it wasn't that which caught the woman's attention but the sight behind the redhead that made her drop her jaw in astonishment.

With speed and agility as keen as or greater than Rachel, N'Dare raced toward the other two combatants with her Bo staff in hand. When she was approaching Rachel's crouched body she extended her staff in front of her as doing a pole vault; and stabbed her staff into the earth and using her momentum positioned herself directly on top of the staff to be perfectly vertical with the pole; balancing herself there. Then bringing her legs down first N'Dare used gravity to flip herself over Rachel's head and brought her staff down towards the other woman with so much force she would be able to crack her skull in an instance.

After regaining her wits the lavender haired woman managed to jump back the few feet she needed to avoid the killer blow to her head. But her jump was less than agile, thus causing her to lose her balance and stumble into the wall behind her. Before she was able to regain a fighting stance she was meet with a dagger that wizzed passed her face and managed to catch the material just above her right shoulder to affectively pin her to the wall. She immediately shot her left hand up to try and free herself from the dagger and when she rose her eyes to see what her opponents were doing while she was otherwise indisposed she was meet with the point of the other dagger hovering seemingly on its own a mere few inches in front of her face.

Looking beyond the point of the blade she saw N'Dare standing with her staff in one hand and a satisfied smirk on her face and Rachel with her left hand extended with the same expression mirrored on her face. The three stood there looking at one another until N'Dare spoke.

"Do you give up…. Or do we have to continue this little sparring session….Psylocke?" N'Dare still had the small smile on her face as she looked at her martial arts teacher. With a resigned sigh Psylocke rolled her eyes and lifted both her hands above her hand and responded.

"Fine..fine… I know when I'm beat; you don't have to rub it in with your self-satisfied grins."

It was only then that you could really hear the full fledged British accent the woman carried. Then with a wave of her hand Rachel summoned back her daggers and without touching them; returned them to their place in the holsters on her thigh. N'Dare followed by twirling her staff and returning it to its compressed size.

After she was free Psylocke looked at her two pupils with a genuine smile on her face. The girls training had progressed nicely over the past few months, they were almost as good as she was; hell who was she kidding. When those two fought as a team they would be more than enough to give her a run for her money. Shaking herself from her thoughts Psylocke looked at them both and said.

"You girls are getting really good." Which in turned caused them to look at each other with the biggest smiles on their faces. "Though I can see some margin for improvement…"she then began to taper off her comments.

That immediately brought frowns to the girls faces.

"What do you mean… we like totally kicked your butt?!" protested Rachel, who was then seconded by N'Dare.

"Yeah...I mean come on. We had you on the ropes there at the end…There was no way you could've beaten us."

Psylocke chuckled and began to shake her head and thought.

"they maybe skilled fighters but they still have a ways to go." She then proceeded to explain to them what they could improve upon.

"Yes… you are correct. Towards the end of the fight there was no way I could've regained the upper hand." Which Rachel was waiting for her to say  
so she could continue to gloat.

"Exactly… so how do you think we can improve if we just beat you". Psylocke then raised her hand to cut off Rachel's rant and said.

"But both of you had some major flaws in the beginning." Both girls looked extremely confused by the comment so she elaborated.

"Take you for instance N'Dare… you waited far too long to give your teammate help. This in any other situation could have cost Rachel her life." After thinking over the scenario N'Dare couldn't help but agree and began to mentally kick herself for not thinking of that herself.

On the other hand Rachel just stood there and thought of the many things she did wrong. And after replaying everything in her mind she couldn't come up with a single thing.

"What about me? I think I did pretty well considering I went head-to-head with you." The first thing Psylocke said was.

"True… you did do pretty well, but the only thing I would advise you to do is to be quicker when using your powers against your opponent." Rachel thought about her words and at first was momentarily confused until she thought she understood.

"You mean the statue thing?! Oh come on… did you see how huge that thing was? It must've weighed a ton… how do you expect me to move something that big so fast?" But it wasn't Psylocke's voice that responded.

"And do you know how long that statue stood there?"

All three women turned to the entrance of the yard to see a very displeased and angry elderly woman with graying hair and dark chocolate colored skin wearing very formal turquoise colored robes. It also seemed as though the woman had a perpetual scowl on her face from years of displeasure.With a sideward's glance to N'Dare; Rachel telepathically whispered to her "busted". At her friends comment N'Dare couldn't possibly hold in the laugh that threaten to come forth. And with a look that took years of practice the woman glared at N'Dare.

"And what prêt ale is so amusing princess?" immediately N'Dare closed her mouth and looked at the woman apologetically.

"I'm sorry Lady Shawnee… It was nothing… I-I was simply thinking." She stammered out to which Shawnee continued to lecture her.

"Hopefully you were thinking of what kind of dangers you were putting yourself in moments ago." And before N'Dare could respond, Shawnee whirled around and fixed her gaze on Psylocke.

"And I would think you, Lady Elizabeth would know better than to place these two girls in such perils. Does Her Majesty know that you are out here putting her daughter and her niece in danger's way?" the lady said reproachfully. Now it was Elizabeth's turn to scowl as she looked at the older woman.

"I do believe 'Ro is aware of me training the girls…as she was the one to ask me to do so." Shawnee scrutinized Elizabeth with her big brown eyes before answering .

"Huhh... she may have asked you to train them…but I doubt she asked you to nearly kill or decapitate them. And you would be wise to show the proper respect to out Queen by either addressing her as Her Royal Highness or Her Majesty." the woman said with an air of indignation towards theother woman. Shawnee simple continued to stare at Elizabeth and found herself wondering.

"Who does this scantily clad European whore think she was referring to the Queen by such a ridiculous nickname." All the while Elizabeth was fuming,

"This woman has no idea who she is dealing with." Before speaking again Elizabeth took a deep breath and then slowly released it through her nostrils.

"Well then dearie… I'm pretty sure she doesn't want that, but as you can see both girls is unharmed so your comment really isn't necessary…" Elizabeth paused then added "…and I like my choice of combat ware and I don't think it makes me look like a "European Whore" at all. As a matter of fact 'Ro seemed to have liked my uniform when we're were in the X-Men together…come to think of it her uniform was a lot more revealing than mine."

Both N'Dareand Rachel simply stood there and watched the exchange between the two women and enjoying every moment of it, telepathically Rachel said.

"Oh my god… I think Shawnee's gonna bust a vessel soon." While N'Dare sent back.

"I think I'm going to bust a gut if Betsy doesn't lay up on her…this is too much fun to be considered legal."

Both girls stood there and snickered at the scene before them, that is until another voice interrupted the little spat between them

"What's going on here?" came the voice of Katherine Pryde.

Shawnee looked to the entrance she herself had used to meet the gaze of the other woman.

"Finally someone with sense… Councilwoman Katherine…maybe you can talk some sense into 'Lady Elizabeth'."  
Shawnee said.

And Katherine was easily able to hear the distastes that the woman had for Elizabeth.

"And what type of sense would that be?" she chuckled as she seen the look on Betsy's face.

"Well she insists on training these two girls and exposing them the dangers that are clearly unnecessary and that I am sure the Queen would not approve." The lady saidwith a huff.

Katherine adopted her most serious face as she began to speak to the other people present.

" This is a serious accusation we have here Lady Elizabeth…" she then turned to the girls "…and you two should know better than to place yourselves inharm's way so willingly."

The whole time she was talking Shawnee had the most condescending smile she could pull off directed towards Elizabeth. After her lecture Katherine turned to Shawnee and said.

"Asante Sana Lady Shawnee… I will deal with this from here…you needn't worry; everything will be sorted out."

At first the other woman was confused as to why Councilwoman Pryde would be dismissing her; but then thought it may have something to do with the fact that Katherine was a very respectable woman and wouldn't want to embarrass the other woman in front of her. So with a polite nod and smile Shawnee excused herself but not before throwing Elizabeth one last glance with the thought that the woman would get what she deserved. As soon as the other woman was gone Katherine turned back to the others.

"Now will someone please tell me what the old windbag was going on about?" Betsy was the first one to answer her question.

"I haven't the foggiest idea what that old crone was going on about... I guess she just must be upset since she is going into menopause and decided to take her anger out on unsuspecting innocents…what an arse!" Everyone present was sent into a fit of laughter and Betsy's words, and when they all were finished Betsy looked to Katherine and asked.

"What are you doing here anyway Kitty? I thought you and the others had a meeting with Ororo to attend to." Kitty had finally got her breathing under  
control and was whipping the tear from her eye when she said.

"We did. The meetings over now; Ororo thought it would be best to just pick up where we left off after we all had some time to rest. And as for me being here, I was on my way to N'Dare room to see if she was getting prepared for her birthday ball when I heard you arguing with the wicked witch of the west."

At the mention of the words birthday ball N'Dare slapped her hand to her forehead.

"Oh by the Goddess… I completely forgot about that!" While Rachel stood to her side with a large smile on her face.

"How could you forget your own birthday? I mean come on you only turn 16 once." N'Dare then proceeded to pin her down with her most accusatory glare she wascapable of.

"Agh... what do you mean… you were suppose to reminded me not to be late after training. If anyone's to blame it's you. And when mom fry's my butt for being late you're gonna be right there on side of me." Rachel stared at her as if she had completely lost her mind.

"What do you mean remind you? What do I look like you personal date book? I can't remember all the functions you have to attend…shish you're the Princess not me." N'Dare didn't even bother to respond as she drug her friend by the arm so they could both go get ready for the party. Halfway down the walkway that led to the palace N'Dare threw over her shoulder.

"Thanks Aunt Betsy for the training session, oh and thank you to Aunt Kitty for the reminder." Both woman just laughed as they watched the girls race off to their rooms.

To be continued...

_**Author's Note: Thank the Goddess for that… I've finished the forth chapter and not a moment too soon. I mean I just started writing this one this evening and its now 7:18 in the morning and trust me when I say I'm really tired. Well now let see… some important news, in the next chapter we will finally get to the end of this whole war business here in the marvel universe and will soon see the Avatar world. Yay I can't wait either. Now just so you are forewarned the next chapter should be even longer than this one but that's only because it will be a really big battle scene with a lot of fighting, so be prepared; as in have a snack ready and plenty of time on your hands. Also I would like to ask those who read this chapter to please tell me if I conveyed the fighting well. I tried to put into words that I saw in my mind and hopefully that came across. I'm also contemplating changing the genre for Avatar to X-men since I don't seem to be getting any feedback from the Avatar section…who knows I may just leave it. Oh well please read and review thanks for reading.**_


	6. Armageddon: Fall of a Nation

**Of Mutants and Benders**

**By: Orionstorm04**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men I only own the original idea and my OC's. Please read and review, hope you enjoy._

Armageddon: Fall of a Nation

June 13. It was a day for Wakanda that held mix emotions for its people; on one hand it marked the birth of the heir to the Wakandian throne. On Princess N'Dare twenty-first birthday she would take responsibilities for the day to day rigors of running the city while her mother continues to provide protection for the entire civilization. But this day also marked the sixteenth anniversary of T'Challa's death and as tragic as it was the people always managed to put on the best festival in honor of his life and the lives of those he left behind. Today was a day of much excitement; there seem to be a frenzy of people moving throughout the palace wall. Decorations were being placed in the main hall which consisted of bright colors of fabric that were hung from the expansive ceiling to the plants that were in every  
corner. Cooks who had once lived and study in the most prestigious culinary capitals in the world were in the kitchen preparing the meals to feed hundreds of guest  
who would come to celebrate with the Royal Family and its close friends. Everyone was busy with one task or another to make sure everything was in its proper  
order so that the festivities would go without a hitch; but none could be more nervous than the guest of honor herself. N'Dare never really knew how to feel when  
her birthday rolled around. When she was younger her mother told her that her father had died on her birthday; and while she never meet him while he was alive  
the thought that she was brought into this world the same day that her father was taken form it always left a bitter taste in her mouth. She wasn't blind; she was  
able to see the pain that her mother always tried to hide whenever this day rolled around. Her mother tried to remain strong and constantly told her that she had no reason to feel bad and that her father would freely give his life any day of the week to make sure that his daughter was safe and so would she.

N'Dare Stepped from her bath wrapped solely in a silk midnight blue robe and walked over to her vanity. Staring in the mirror she unbound her hair from the messy  
bun that she put it in when she went to take a bath, and watched as the platinum mass fell around her shoulders and down her back. After brushing it until she  
thought it somewhat looked as if she tried to put it in order she put it into the French braid she always wore. Standing up she walked over to her bed and looked at  
the gown that her Lady in Waiting had placed out for her. It was a beautiful gown to be sure; it was mostly white with soft colors such as light blue and rose, it had  
a long skirt that fell to the floor and was layered to give it a flowing look. The bodice of the gown lovingly hugged her curves giving her a more mature look. The  
dress was sleeveless exposing her shoulder and having two pieces of fabric that were connected to the bust of the dress that wrap around her shoulders and  
connect directly behind her shoulder blades and fell delicately to the floor. Looking at the dress on her N'Dare thought it looked more like something Rachel would  
wear and not her. She had often been called somewhat of a tomboy simply because she didn't do what people consider normal for a princess. She didn't present  
herself as some kind of damsel in distress or a delicate glass figure. Even though she didn't acquire her mother's mutant talent or her father's enhanced physical  
attributes; and if today's training session proved anything it was that she could still be consider a formidable opponent on the field. She liked who she was; though  
at times she felt like she was letting her mother down. All her life she looked up to her mother for her strength and to her father for his great sacrifice and on many  
levels she felt as though she didn't quiet belong.

There was a knock at the door; and snapping out of her thoughts N'Dare called out to the visitor.

"Who is it?" the door slowly opened and in walked Ororo.

"It's your mother. May I come in?" Ororo said with a chuckle.

"Of course you can mom. I was just finish getting dressed; I shouldn't be long." Looking at her daughter Ororo smiled. She had always been told that her child was like a spitting image of her but Ororo saw so much more when she looked at her. N'Dare was forced to grow up in the most unbecoming conditions; what with the entire world destroyed and to live in constant fear of the day that their defenses would not be enough to protect them. But through it all she still maintained an innocence and joy that seem to stay with her, and looking at her now she could see how beautiful her child looked; but there was one thing she could improve on.

"N'Dare… child; haven't you for gotten something?" Looking in her mirror N'Dare couldn't figure what her mother could be talking about. She had everything she needed; she was bathed, dressed... what else she could be missing. Then it dawned on her.

"Oh! My tiara; I completely forgot." Walking over to her Ororo's smile brightened; she would get her daughter to admit it one of these days.

"While it is true that you have forgotten your tiara; that was not what I was talking about… N'Dare weren't you going to do something with your hair?" N'Dare groaned.

"Do I have too? I like my hair in a braid." Ororo lead her back to the vanity and sat her down and began to unbraid N'Dare's hair.

"And I also like your hair, but would it kill you to wear it in another style? You must be bored with it in the same way every day."

Storm picked up the ivory brush on the counter and began to brush the slivery locks that were so much like her own. It took only a few minutes to complete and while the style was simply in its complexity it completely transformed the girl in front of her. Looking at her daughter through the mirror Ororo smiled.

"There… you look even more beautiful…" walking over to the stand that held N'Dares' tiara; Ororo couldn't keep the pride from appearing in her eyes. Today was a special day; it was her daughter's sixteenth birthday and she would do everything in her power to make sure nothing went wrong. Coming up behind her; Ororo could see something was troubling her daughter. "What's wrong? Your hair doesn't look that bad does it?" Finally looking her mother in the eye N'Dare couldn't hide the shame that passed before her features.

"Mother… I-I don't know… sometimes I feel inadequate. I mean I am suppose to be the daughter of two of the most powerful people in our culture… yet sometimes when I look at you and think of whom my father was I can't help but feel that I always come up short! I'm not a mutant; and I don't have any powers to speak of… I just feel like sometimes I'm not fit to someday become Queen!" At the end of her rant N'Dare felt drained, as if all the years spent thinking that she would never live up to her parents reputations had deflated her; and in her anger towards herself she began to cry.

"Oh; my child, you have no reason to feel like that. You are so much greater than even you know. And you have plenty to be proud of; you are a symbol for our people. They look at you and see how strong you are even without the abilities of your parents. You are strong N'Dare… you could never be anything different." Whipping the tears from her face N'Dare looked at her mother with a soft smile.

"Really?"

"Of course you are. You are my child and if you know nothing know that I love you and will always be there when you need me." Ororo placed the silver tiara on N'Dare's head. It was a beautiful crown that lay directly over her forehead and framed her face all the way to her jaw line.

"Thank you mom… I really appreciate your words. I guess it doesn't matter if I have powers or not; it won't stop me from protecting those I love." A thoughtful expression came to Ororo face, it seemed as if she was caught between telling N'Dare something or not. Soon she came to a conclusion.

"N'Dare… there is something I have to tell you. You see I-I…" before Ororo could finish her sentence the bedroom door was opened.

"Hey Dee… You done yet; you've been in here for like ever. The party's gonna start without you." Walking farther into the room Rachel saw her friend and her aunt talking; while N'Dare looked as though she had been crying. "Oh; sorry… I can come back." Turning around Rachel was heading to the door when she heard her aunt call out.

"That won't be necessary Rachel. N'Dare and I were just talking… trying to get over her jitters." Rachel walked back over to the two of them and finally got a look at what N'Dare was wearing.

"Wow! Dee you look great. I am sooo jealous. I would kill for a dress like that." N'Dare rolled her eyes at her friends comment; she knew it was something more to the taste of Rachel than to her. Ororo stood up and walked over to Rachel.

"You look fine just the way you are Rachel… I think green is your color." Leaning forward Ororo placed a kiss on her godchild's head and went towards the door. "N'Dare, remember what we talked about okay. And please try not to let it bother you; it is your sixteenth birthday. You should be happy; you only turn sixteen once, enjoy it." And with those words Ororo left the two alone to finish getting ready.

"What were you two talking about? You can't be that nervous." N'Dare looked to her friend and just decided that it wasn't a topic that she really wanted to revisit; so she changed the subject.

"So do you really like the dress? I was just thinking that it was something that you would like." Rachel looked at her confused by the sudden change of subject; she decided that she wouldn't push the issue. She knew that whatever was bothering N'Dare she would talk about it when she was ready.

"I love it! It complements your skin and hair perfectly, and you're damn right that it's in my taste. If you weren't my best friend and it wasn't you're birthday I would rip it off you and wear it myself." Both girls began to laugh and soon were holding their sides. Whenever they both regained their composure Rachel pulled out a small box out of her dress pocket. "Here; I know I should wait until everyone else gives you their presents but I just can't help myself." N'Dare took the box from Rachel; opening it there was a bracelet inside with two small gems, one made of a ruby and in the shape of a flame, the other made of diamond in the shape of a snowflake. It was their symbols; something they always referred to each other as: fire and ice. Looking up; N'Dare had tears glistening in her eyes.

"Rachel… this is the best present I have ever gotten. I-It's beautiful." N'Dare walked over and gave her friend the biggest hug she was capable.

"I thought you may like it… so I had one made for myself that way well always know that we are sisters and nothing will ever change that." N'Dare looked at Rachel's and noticed that she was wearing a bracelet identical to hers. After putting on her new gift N'Dare was ready to go down to the party.

* * *

Outside the palace walls fireworks could be seen; lighting up the sky to where it almost appeared to be daylight. People were filing into the main hall; all dressed in their finest clothes. Food was served, people were dancing, and it was a true joyous occasion in Wakanda. Ororo sat at a long table set up for the guest of the Royal Family; now the only thing that was missing was the guest of honor. Soon trumpet could be heard sounding at the main door to the room and as if on cue the entire room fell silent. A man dressed in clothing similar to that of ancient Egyptians began to speak.

"It brings me great honor to present to you, Her Royal Highness: N'Dare Jamilla Zuri Ade; Princess of Wakanda." The moment N'Dare walked in she was greeted with applause from every occupant in attendance. Making her way down the staircase; and over to the table N'Dare began her speech.

"I thank you all for coming to celebrate my sixteenth birthday. And while I am filled with joy on this day we must also remember what was lost this day… I was sixteen years ago that Wakanda lost its King; my father T'Challa. So while we celebrate; let us remember the great sacrifice that he made so that we may live." With tears in her eyes N'Dare sat beside her mother who had a approving smile on her face.

"You did wonderfully N'Dare. Your father would be so proud of you." N'Dare gave her a watery smile of her own.

Soon gifts were presented to N'Dare; and while all of them were beautiful there were was one that really caught her interest. Her uncle Remy had a special Bo-staff made for her.

"Dis here ma petite tempest is a special Bo. I had one just like it back in da day… see it got dese lil compartment inside da hollowd shaft fill with minor explosive…" Ororo gave her friend a disapproving glare.

"Remy! Why on earth would you give her a staff that could blow her up in a moment's notice?"

"Aww come on now Stormy you know her old Parrain wouldn't give her nothing dat would harm her. I had Hank fix it to wear it would only detonate when it was a few feet away from her. It also has dis nifty lil thing it do… it won't extend for anyone but you petite, and they got some other special things included but imma let you find those on ya own." N'Dare beamed at Remy and went to embrace her favorite uncle.

"Oh thank you Uncle Remy. I love it; it's so much better than my other staff. I can't wait until my next sparing match with Psylocke." Giving his niece a hug Remy left her and Ororo alone to talk.

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yes mother; the party is wonderful and I love my gifts and the fireworks… I'm going to have to thank Jubilee; she really outdid herself." Seeing the bright smile on her face Ororo thought that her daughter may truly be happy. Sobering Ororo stood from her chair.

"Come with me N'Dare. I still have my gift to give." The two walked out of the main hall and into the corridor that lead to the south end of the palace. As the noise from the party slowly started to fade N'Dare wonder what her mother could have gotten her that required them to leave her party. She didn't bother to ask where they were going; she simply kept quiet and followed her mother's lead. Soon they stopped at a large oak door with two panther statues standing guard on either side. N'Dare had come across this room several times in her youth but never actually seen inside it. It was the King's study; her father's study. Soon after his death the room was locked so that no one could enter but Ororo. She would use it as a sanctuary to get away from her daily struggles; she would also use this room because it was the one place in the palace where she thought she could feel close to T'Challa. There was a panel on the left side of the door that Ororo placed her hand on, and with a soft click the door was unlocked. Holding her breath N'Dare looked to her mother with a questioning look; not really understanding what her mother had to show her in the room but also not willing to question it since she had always wanted to see what was in there.

The room was very spacious; there was a large desk in the center of the room with an ornate fireplace burning directly behind it. Lining the wall were the pictures of all the past kings of Wakanda and hanging directly over the fireplace was a picture of T'Challa. N'Dare had seen countless pictures of her father before but this one was somewhat different. He looked more at ease; as though he had not a care in the world. In the picture he was dressed in his Black Panther custom and had a bright smile on his face; and looking in his eyes N'Dare felt as though she was looking at her own.

"Your father was such a handsome man. I remember when I first met him… It was back when we were but children; no older than you are now. I was traveling through the Sahara on my way to my mother's ancestral home in Kenya when I first came across your father… it seems like only yesterday." All the while N'Dare just listened to her mother relive the first time she met her future husband. She listened to how after the separated when they were younger Ororo always held a place for him in her heart. And after years of separation the two were able to find love again; it was so romantic N'Dare could hardly believe that's how it truly happened but knew that her mother would not lie about something like that. "Your father loved you with all his heart N'Dare, and while he is not here to tell you I can say without any doubt that he is very proud of you as I am." Ororo placed her hand on the ruby that she has had since she was N'Dare age. N'Dare never really knew the entire story of her mother ruby, but she knew that it was special to her; not only because it gave her the power to protect the city but because of who gave it to her. "M'Rin gave me this jewel when I was about your age. She told me that it would always give me a way to return to her and that it would always connect us. It has been years since she has passed away and I wish so much that she could have met you." Walking over to a pedestal in the far corner of the room Ororo removed a box off of it. "N'Dare this is my gift to you. It is very special… it was your father's idea to have this made. After he died I decided to have it made but decided to wait until I thought you were old enough." Ororo opened the box to reveal a stunning necklace with a beautiful diamond in the shape of a star with a lightning bolt running through it. "The pendent of this necklace is connected with the ruby in my broach. They are like sister stones, it has taken a great deal of magic to bind these two stones; and in doing so I will always be able to sense you and you will in turn be able to sense me. We will always be connected no matter where we are." Placing the necklace around her neck; N'Dare looked at her mother with the happiest smile she had ever had.

"Mother… I-I don't know what to say. This means so much to me; knowing that you will always be with me… and that we share something soo wonderful; words truly can't express the way I feel." Ororo features sadden when N'Dare said she was happy that they shared in something so deep that neither could ever truly part from it. Ororo Munroe was never a woman to indulge in lying; especially not to someone she loved. So to keep this secret from her daughter was tearing a her consciousness for years, she felt that N'Dare was old enough to know the truth; and while it would hurt her Ororo knew she had no other choice.

"N'Dare… there is something I have to tell you." N'Dare looked up expectantly from the jewel around her neck to her mother.

"What is it mother?" Gathering her resolve Ororo squared her shoulders and prepared herself for the conversation that she had been putting off for sixteen years now.

"N'Dare there is something that I haven't been completely honest with you about…" N'Dare face fell in confusion; what could her mother have not been honest with her about. "You see, you are more unique than you think I-I… uhg" then a pain shot through Ororo mind. She felt a change somewhere deep inside her; clutching her head in pain Ororo tried to figure out what the imbalance was. N'Dare rushed to her mother's side to see what was causing her so much pain.

"What's wrong mother?!" Ororo raised her head to look beyond the balcony that over looked the city. She seemed to simply be staring into space; looking beyond the buildings that were there and into something much deeper.

"Something is wrong." She whispered and a look of dread crossed her face. Before N'Dare could ask what she meant an explosion coming from the south end of the city rocked the Palace walls.

* * *

Southside of Wakanda…

With the festivities going on at the palace, the normally busy streets of Wakanda were almost bear. A few people were milling about finishing up their daily work or errands. A mother was with her child as they finished that last of the grocery shopping. Turning around the woman opened her mother to tell the little boy that they could go home and that all the shopping was done for the day, but then she noticed he wasn't there anymore.

"Caleb… Caleb where are you? Come on honey were finished." When she got no reply she figured that he must have gotten bored and wondered off. Collecting her bags she made her way around the corner to look for her son. After a while she began to worry; of course she knew that nothing bad could really happen to him, after all they were safely behind the walls of Wakanda and crime was virtually nonexistent here. But a mother's intuition was a strong habit to try and knock and growing up in the city of New York before its fall tended to live a person a little bit paranoid. She thought of all the places a seven year old boy would go, and the first thing that came to mind was the one place he knew he should not be. Walking to the edge of the city the woman spotted him staring at the storm a few feet in front of him.

"Caleb! You know better that to be here. What were you doing?" The little boy brought his green eyes away from the storm and looked at his mother.

"There is something out there mom."

"What? No sweetie; there is nothing out there… it was just the storm. There is nothing to worry about." Caleb shook his head vigorously.

"No mom. There is something out there I can feel it!" The woman looked at her son searching for any signs that he was playing a joke on her. She knew her baby was a mutant since he was born; gifted with the ability a spatial awareness. He could feel anything in his immediate area even if he had never been there before. Looking at him she didn't see anything in him that said he was making a joke. Narrowing her eyes she began to shake her head. Finally she looked in the spot where her son was staring but couldn't see anything.

"I don't see anything… it must just be the storm. Come on honey let's just go ho-" the woman cut her sentence off. Looking closely she was able to make out what appeared to be two read eyes staring at her from beyond the rain. "_Oh GOD…__" Soon the eyes had a face, then following a body. True it had been years since she had seen anything like it, but no amount of time could whip away the image of the creature that killed her husband and destroyed her world. Standing before her was a humanoid creature with no really defining features. It had no ears, mouth or anything that could make it seem human other than its body, but it was the eyes that stood out the most. They were more like lens that gave the thing sight but not a soul. Stepping closer the creature looked between mother and child before it finally settled on the boy. _

_"Mutant X-Gene detected… initiating prime Omega Sentinel objective…terminate mutant." The woman didn't need to hear anymore; she reacted solely on instinct. She reached for her son and started to run as fast as her legs could carry her. The sentinel lifted his right arm and it began to melt and reshape itself into the barrel of a cannon. "Human attempting to run… proceeding with prime objective." A crimson beam flashed from the end of the cannon and shot directly over the woman's head and hitting a power station a few feet ahead causing a massive explosion._

* * *

_Ororo didn't need to be told what caused the explosion. She felt the shift in the storm outside; she felt the breach in her spell. Ororo turned to N'Dare. _

_"I want you to stay here… and don't argue with me N'Dare. Do not leave this palace." Rachel came running down the hall and towards them. _

_"Aunt Ororo there is a disturbance in the city. I have been able to pick up stray thoughts but they don't make sense. The people seem to think that sentinel's have breached the spell you put up, but that can't be right; can it?" N'Dare looked to her mother with pleading eyes. _

_"Mother you must let us help you. This is our home to; we have a right to protect it and its people." _

_"No N'Dare. I want you and Rachel to stay here. This is not a game or one of your practice drills with Elizabeth-" sighing Ororo rubbed her temples. She could feel the tears in the storm growing bigger and happening in different parts of the city; soon they will have breached completely. "I need you two here to help the people that are here already and the ones that will come later. Once the sentinels take the city the palace will be the only safe place; at least at the moment. But if something were to happen the people would need protectors and everyone will be outside trying to contain them. So please do as I say." Ororo walked to the balcony and summoned a wind to take her aloft; and with an incredible speed she flew to the battlefield. N'Dare looked at her mother leave slightly stunned. She couldn't understand why her mother wouldn't want their help, and there still was that little bit of information that her mother had yet to give her regarding not being completely honest with her. Rachel walked up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. _

_"Your mother's right Dee… we have to stay here and protect those that we can. Besides you know just as well as I do that we are not ready to handle a whole army of sentinels."_

_ "I know- I know… I just wish there was something more that I could do besides sit here like some invalid." Rachel reached behind her back and pulled out N'Dare new Bo-staff. _

_"I thought you might say something like that, so I took the liberty of bring this with me." N'Dare took the staff from her and looked at her with a mischievous smile on her face. _

_"And that's why you're my best friend… because we think you much alike. You take the west wing and I'll take the east. Round up as many people as you can and bring them to the throne room, and Rachel should you run into any trouble contact me okay?" Rachel preformed a mock salute _

_"Will do ma kaeptin, haha yes N'Dare I will call you if anything happens." They both took off in two different directions to take care of their respective missions. _

* * *

_The woman continued to run as fast as she could. She could still here the abomination following behind her and setting off several shots from its cannon. One such shot hit at a building directly in front of her causing huge pieces of rubble to come tumbling down on her head. The woman wrapped her child in her embrace to protect him from harm and prayed to God that it would end quickly. When none of the pieces hit her she looked up wondering if it had already happened. Staring up she saw the chunks of rubble suspended seemingly on their own a few feet above her. She looked to her son to see if he was holding the rocks in place; but upon closer observation of the rocks she was able to notice fine webbing extending from one building to the next holding the rocks in place. On the building to the far right there was a man attached to the wall with a smile on his face. _

_"Thank you-Thank you so much!" The man's smile only grew wider._

_ "No need to thank me ma'am. I'm just your friendly neighborhood spider…" Before the man could complete his sentence he was sent flying by another shot that the sentinel had sent. The man sailed a good thirty feet before he came crashing down on an unsuspecting person. _

_"Dammit Parker; watch where your goin." Peter Parker pulled himself from on top of the man that he landed on. _

_"No-No I'm fine. Thanks for asking Wolverine." _

_"Whatever bub; just watch it next time." Peter watched as Logan made his way to the attacking sentinels with his claws extended and began slicing his ways through. _

_"Ahh… Wolverine; always just a little ray of sunshine." He leapt into the air and began webbslining from one building to the next until he was directly over the melee; then dove in to assist the other man. The two were busy fighting off at least two dozen sentinels while scared bystanders rushed to make their way to the palace. A cluster of the mechanical monsters were blocking the street that would take the people to safety. All of them stopped in their tracks and stared at the monsters with what was surely to be their last image. Then a column of fire shot over their heads and melted the sentinels into nothing but slag; and hovering just above them was a man who was completely covered in flames. _

_"GO! I'll watch your backs; get to the palace." The people didn't need to be told twice as they soon took off running in that direction. The fighting was growing bigger and the protectors were sorely outnumbered. Soon the sentinels were pushing them back; then without warning a thunderhead appeared with lighting and strong gust of wind that fried the sentinels and pushed them back to the south side of the city. Storm; followed by the other X-Men stood before wolverine and the others. Hovering above the rest storm called out._

_ "X-Men hear me! We are on the brink of our most important battle. I stand here as your leader Storm; and I say to you that we must not let this threat continue. Though we have lost Charles and countless others; we must stand as a team. No longer shall we let this constant fear take hold of us; we stand our ground… we fight! Win or lose; victor or failure this ends tonight. WE ARE MUTANTS… WE ARE X-MEN!" With that Storm extended her hand that was laced with lighting and pointed it at her teammates, the lighting casted itself towards them transforming there civilian clothes into that of their old uniforms. The others that were there looked to Storm Expectantly. _

_"What about us? We may not be X-Men and all of us may not be mutants but were here to help too." Smiling Storm turned to them. _

_"No you were not X-Men; but you are crucial to this war…" she changed their cloths as well transforming them from civilian to that of spiderman, Human Torch, Warbird, Electra, and the Punisher. "You will help protect those we love... you are Warriors of the human race." Looking back towards the palace Ororo hoped that everything there was okay. Looking in the distance she noticed that the sentinels had regrouped and was making their way back into the center of the city. She flew higher into the sky until she was able to see the entire city; clutching her stone in her hand she whispered something and then it began to glow a bright red. "Protect them…"_

* * *

_The palace was in utter chaos. People were running in every direction, trying to find a safe place to hide. Rachel did her best to keep everyone calm and instructed them to head to the throne room. A man carrying his crying daughter tried desperately to calm her but nothing that he said was able to stop the tears. It had gotten so bad that Rachel had to use her telepathy to calm the child, and while she was connected with the little girls mind she was able to see what caused her to act the way she did. On their way to the palace; sentinels had attacked her family and in the process had killed her mother and her brother right in front of her eyes. Rachel felt sorry for the little girl. She thought that no one should witness the death of their parent in such a brutal way. That thought brought her to her own parents and what had befallen then years ago when she was only ten years old. As if on their own; her feet carried her into a small garden on the west side of the palace to particular spot that she had visited many times over the years. Standing in the center of the garden was a statue of a man and a woman with either of their hands raised both supporting a red sphere about the size of a soccer ball. There was an inscription on the statue: 'Their love was like a flame. Constant and eternal may their love burn for all time.' Rachel slowly walked up to the statue of her parents. It always hurt her to know that with all their power they weren't able to save themselves. _

_"I will avenge you mom and dad. I promise!" The sphere in their hands began to glow a bright red until a beam of red light shot forth in a straight line heading towards the south end of the castle. The light continued until it reached a statue in the east garden; it was a statue of a beautiful woman with a sad look in her eyes holding a sphere identical to the one that Jean and Scott held except it was green. Inscribed on this statue was 'Always a Rouge…Forever A Friend. You have touched so many with your unyielding love.' The circuit of light continued on its trek heading to the east garden to the statue of a muscular man with a serious expression on his face with sphere the color of silver; inscribed was a simple phrase. 'Power yields when he commands… the wind howls for his lost.' And still the light continued to its final marker to that of the north garden to the statue of a man standing erect with a soft smile on his lips and wisdom in his eyes holding a pristine blue sphere. 'Knowledge is our only true freedom… though time passes down the stream of life we must always look to one another for help.' After all four sphere were alight they shot into the air creating a wall of pure energy that protected the occupants within._

_Rachel made her way back into the corridor heading towards the throne room, until N'Dare came running up behind her. _

_"Rachel… Mom has activated the guardians; it must be getting serious out there." N'Dare came up on side of her friend and noticed that solemn expression on her face. "Are you alright?" Rachel lifted her eyes to meet N'Dare with a stern determination in them. _

_"I'm fine. We should get to the throne room. If the sentinels managed to breach the spell then the force field outside won't keep them back for much longer." Rachel began to walk away before N'Dare grabbed her by the elbow to slow her pace. _

_"Hey… tell me what's wrong. I know things look bad now but mom and the others won't let this city fall without one Hell of a fight." Still getting no answer from her N'Dare looked in the direction that she had found Rachel coming from and it dawned on her. She turned back to look at Rachel with nothing but sympathy in her eye; with her next words she softened her voice. "We won't let this beat us Rach. Aunt Jean and Uncle Scott didn't give their lives so that we could fall at the finish line. We will protect this city or die trying. Now come on; we have to get to the throne room." Before the two made their way back to the throne room; Rachel began to shake her head. Her mind was picking up some pretty wild thought patterns coming from the throne room. Her eyes widen in realization that the sentinels had already managed to break through their defenses. Dragging N'Dare the rest of the way to the room; she threw open the doors and the sight that meet both girls almost turned their stomach over. Almost every man, woman and child who was held up in the room was dead. Body parts were strewn to every corner of the once great hall that had seen centuries of Kings and Queens of Wakanda. The only survivor was a man in his early twenties fighting off a dozen sentinels on his own; and by the looks of it he wasn't faring to well. Without hesitation Rachel and N'Dare rushed to his aid; withdrawing their weapons and preparing for the fight of their lives. Rachel was first to attack by using her TK to throw the two sentinels closest to the man into the others. _

_"Are you alright? We can't stay her and fight them all like this. The room's too small and with all this blood we will never get stable footing. I suggest we take this outside were we'll have more room to maneuver." Rachel tacticians' brain had kicked in at this time; and she began to play one scenario after the other and all of them had the trio coming up short. There was no way that they would be able to hold that many sentinels back and defend the already battered man. He seemed to have come to the same conclusion as he pulled himself off the blood drenched floor. _

_"You two cannot stay here. I will only slow you down…" looking N'Dare squarely in the eye he continued "I will not let you die for me princess. You have to get as far away from here as possible. I will hold them back while you leave." N'Dare was sick and tired of people always assuming she was incapable of defending herself simply because she didn't have any special abilities. _

_"NO! We stand and fight together. I won't leave you behind like that; Rachel and I will stay here with you and fight these bastards head on." Upon realizing what N'Dare was trying to prove she had made up her mind about the situation. _

_"We have to go Dee. I don't like it anymore than you do but he has a point…" _

_"You would just run away and let this man die?! I can't believe you are even suggesting we do that!" N'Dare said astonished that her friend would willingly abandon somewhat when there was hope that they could be saved. _

_"You don't have a choice. It is my decision to stay behind and allow you an escape. I don't need you here to help me; all I need is for you to be safe Your Highness…please; just allow me this opportunity to protect you." The man had a pleading edge to his voice and a look in his eyes that left no room to argue. He was willing to die to protect her; and while she knew that his odds were slim to last long against these monsters she couldn't argue with a man that had surely made up his mind._

_ "What is your name?"_

_ "Marcus." N'Dare regarded him for a while; so that she could memorize every aspect of his face so that she would never forget the man that gave his life to protect hers. _

_"You have my eternal thanks Marcus. May the Goddess protect you." A smile came to his face as he looked at the young woman preparing to leave. _

_"No offense Your Grace; but I'm Christian. I put my faith in God, and I know as surely as he has delivered me into this trial he will also deliver me into his eternal grace." With that N'Dare and Rachel left; but before she got to far Rachel sent a telepathic apology to the warrior. Once they were gone Marcus turned back to the sentinels with a hard edge in his eye. They had come to annihilated everyone who lived in this city. They had killed countless amounts of innocent people; and for what? Simply because they were different, but as a soilder he had taken an oath to protect those who could not protect themselves and he'd be damned if he allowed these monster to get away with what they had done without giving them a little payback. "Bring it on you mechanical son of a bitchs." With that final word he leapt into what would most likely be his death._

* * *

_Leaving the throne room the two headed towards the main entrance that would take them to the south end of the city where Ororo was. They both knew that the palace was lost and there was no use staying to defend it since everyone inside was already dead. So the plan now was to make it to her mother and tried to help in this losing war. In the main hall leading to the door that would take them outside there was a blockade of sentinels numbering at least two dozen blocking their only exit. _

_"Dammit… so much for a quick getaway; huh Rach?" _

_"I'll say. You take the six on the left and I'll take the six on the right. We watch each other's back okay?" The two split up and began their assault on the creatures that had come to destroy the last Bastion of hope the world had left. Rachel removed the daggers from inside of the holsters that she wore underneath her gown. She was able to cut at least two of them down when she threw one of her daggers into the head of one of the sentinels, and before the thing could even hit the floor she jumped on its chest, removed the dagger and sent it flying across the room using her TK; slicing the robots heads off. N'Dare by this time removed her new staff from her waist and began attacking her opponents; skillfully dodging every energy beam sent her way. She charged one of the sentinels with the intent to knock its head off but the staff responded by reformatting its tip into a sharp point, lodging itself in the sentinels head. Following through with her motion she managed to decapitate two more sentinels before throwing her staff at the other two catching them in a micro explosion. Running forward she retrieved her staff off the floor and looked at it with a huge grin on her face. "_

_This thing is way cooler than my other staff! I'm going to have to remember to thank Uncle Remy for this little baby." _

_"If we live long enough to tell him... if you wouldn't mind getting your ass over here and helping me we could be done with this a lot sooner!" N'Dare looked over and saw that Rachel was having her hands full with the three sentinels she had left. The two fought like a well trained duo; when N'Dare would lunge at one; Rachel would cover her back. For a while they had the sentinels on the defensive; that is until one of them morphed both of its arms into cannons and prepared to fire. _

_"Goddess…" N'Dare acted on pure instinct next. She drew Rachel close and plunged her staff into the ground in front of her and prayed for a miracle. Just as the sentinels fired its weapon, N'Dare staff began to hum and emit a soft glow and once the energy wave got within a few inches of it a force field appeared around the two girls. Though the force field was capable of withstanding blunt force, it was incapable of holding up against continuous force. The shield wavered under the force of the sentinel's attack and soon dissipated completely, sending both Rachel and N'Dare crashing in the wall behind them and knocking them both unconscious._

* * *

_The battle outside the palace was not faring any better than the one inside. The sentinels were out numbering the forces that had gathered to defend Wakanda. Almost all the human guards were dead, the few super powered civilians were way over there head in this fight and the veteran fighters were at their limits. Katherine Pryde; once known as Shadowcat, phased in between the strikes of the sentinels closest to her, reaching into their artificial brains and scrambling its circuit. She had managed to take out quite a few sentinels thus far and in her carelessness she didn't notice her current target produce a small rod from a hidden compartment on its leg. Shoving the baton into her stomach the sentinel sent a electromagnetic pulse through Kitty that disrupted her phasing abilities leaving her completely tangible. Twisting the midsection of the baton created a sharp tip to the rod penetrating Shadowcats uniform and piercing her heart. Kitty slowly slumped to the ground holding her chest in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. She looked up with fearful eyes wondering if this is how it all would end. Her; facing down a sentinel preparing to deliver the death blow that would end her life…along. Then without warning a column of ice appeared and encased the sentinel in an icy coffin. Bobby Drake AKA Iceman made his way to his fallen friend carefully he laid her head in his lap with tears streaming down his face. _

_"You'll be okay Kitty. Well get you to the healers; and you'll be okay." He tried to comfort her with child like naivety in his eyes. Kitty removed her hand from her heart and shaking brought it to rest on his check leaving a trail of blood. _

_"It's okay Bobby. I'm not scared. I-I…" with those sputtering words Katherine 'Kitty' Pryde drew her last breath. So taken in by his emotions Bobby didn't see the oncoming sentinels with their weapon raised. In all honesty he probably didn't even care; he had just lost the only woman he loved and that lose left him only a hollow shell of what he was. _

_"DRAKE!!" Wolverine's call came only too late. The sentinels attack obliterated Bobby Drake before he even knew they were upon him. Storm stopped her attack the moment she heard Logan yell out Iceman's name, and upon turning she was able to get a glimpse of Bobby cradling the lifeless body of her Kitten. Shaking her head in disbelief Ororo mind began to scream _

_'It can't end like this…not like this. Oh Kitten; had it only been me in you place.' Completely enraged by the demise of two of her oldest friends; Ororo unleashed a onslaught of lightning bolts all aimed at the over two dozen sentinels advancing on the others. After whipping out all the sentinels in her line of vision a pain shot through Ororo's heart. Through the connection of her stone that she shared with N'Dare she was able to feel the pain her daughter was experiencing, and without hesitation she flew towards the palace. Gambit and Wolverine were the only ones standing at this point and both noticed Ororo heading in the direction of the palace. They both knew that only one thing would draw Ororo away from this fight; and that was if N'Dare was in trouble. The shared a common understanding that they would be receiving no more help from Storm._

_"Well gumbo; it's just you and me." _

_"Fine by me homme, but what do ya say we go out wit a bang heh." Unsheathing his claws Wolverine smiled. _

_"Fine by me Cajun." Smiling a devilish grin of his own Remy responded. _

_"Laissez le bons temps rouler!" with that the two charged into the mass of sentinels and to their own deaths._

* * *

_When N'Dare awoken from her unconscious state the first thing she realized was that Rachel was nowhere in sight; she began to panic when she didn't see her friend. Finally after scanning the room several times her eyes fell on the sight of Rachel lying on her back with a long spike protruding from her chest. Immediately she ran over to her and began to shake her vigorously. _

_"Rach… Rachel come on wake up. We have to get out of her before more sentinels come. Come on Rachel this isn't funny we have to go!" With a lump in her throat N'Dare placed her fingers on Rachel's neck and her heart stopped when she didn't feel a pulse. N'Dare heart began to break as it dawned on her that her sister in everything but blood would not wake up. Soon her anger turned into guilt as she cursed herself for not holding the shield up longer or finding away to cushion Rachel's fall. Movement to the far left got her attention. Narrowing her eyes; she was determined to deal some pay-back for them hurting her sister. One lone sentinel was all that survived the backlash and N'Dare was more than confidant she would be able to handle it even though she could feel the deep cut that she had on her side and the few broken ribs underneath; she would not let that hold her back from getting her revenge. _

_"Sentinel A-4 detecting mutant x-gene, proceeding with prime objective." N'Dare was thrown off by the sentinels comment. 'Did it just say mutant x-gene detected?' her mind began to race. Maybe it was because she was so close to Rachel that the creature couldn't tell that they weren't one person. She didn't care; she would take this thing out one way or the other. She carefully put Rachel down and stood on shaking legs, extending her staff she made her way towards the sentinel._

_ "I don't care how dumb you are. Your ass is mind bastard!" she took a swing with her staff but due to her injuries her reflexes were to slow. The sentinel grabbed the staff and lifted N'Dare by her neck inches off the floor. N'Dare stared into the monster's eyes without a shred of fear, she wouldn't give the thing the satisfaction. With her final thoughts she asked Rachel to forgive her and told her mother she loved her; but right as the sentinel brought it hand up to finish what it started it was pulled away from N'Dare by a powerful gust of wind. _

_"Never lay a hand on my child." With that Ororo placed her hand on the sentinel's chest and blasted a hole in it with lightning. Rushing over to her daughter Ororo noticed the way she held her sides. "Are you alright? Where is Rachel we haven't much time." N'Dare turned her tearful gaze over to the body of her dead sister. "Goddess no…" was all Strom could manage, they were losing this battle and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Holding her crying daughter in her arms; Ororo came to a conclusion. She wouldn't let her daughter die like this, not without giving her a means to defend herself. "N'Dare; listen carefully. Can you move without much trouble?" N'Dare rose to her feet. _

_"Yes. But what's the point… we've lost. Everyone we know and care for is gone." _

_"I need you to come with me. I haven't much time to explain now; but once we get to our destination I will explain everything." Grabbing N'Dare by the hand Ororo lead her outside. Once she was sure that no sentinel were around Ororo lifted herself off the ground and extended a hand to her daughter. "Hold on tight to me, and do everything I tell you." N'Dare reached her hand out and took her mother's. Once Ororo had a firm grip she rose higher into the sky heading towards the citadel. While flying over the city, N'Dare was able to see the full effect that the sentinels had cause. Building were destroyed, homes were set ablaze, bodies littered the streets… it all became too much. She couldn't believe that her home had been destroyed all within a matter of hours. Brining her eyes away from the carnage that was beneath N'Dare was brought to the image of hundreds of sentinels. Some were hovering a few feet in the air and the rest had posted in form of the citadel's entrance. Lifting her head so that she could ask her mother what they would do she was interrupted by Ororo. _

_"When I say so I want you to relax your entire body… go limp and for goddess sake do as I tell you!" Nodding her head in understanding N'Dare continued to look forward, she had no idea how her mother planned on getting them through this; but she had never doubted her before and certainly wasn't going to start now. Storm continued heading directly towards the airborne sentinels and once she felt she was close enough she yelled to N'Dare. _

_"NOW!" With that single word Ororo launched her daughter in front of her and using a strong updraft sent N'Dare sailing over the mass of sentinels. Ororo continued to head directly in the heart of the sentinel congregation; all the while channeling electricity throughout her body. Once it build to the amount she desired, the lightning branched out from every inch of her body connecting with every sentinel she came across destroying all of them in her wake. From her position above the chaos N'Dare sailed over the massive explosions of sentinels with an aw- struck look on her face, in all her years of life she had never seen her mother attack anything with such ferocity. As she began her decent beyond the line of exploding sentinels she began to worry if her mother had made it out alright. Soon she began to panic; she was getting closer and closer to the ground and her mother was nowhere to be seen. Then without warning Ororo rocketed out of the burning plume of debris and caught N'Dare just as quickly as she sent her flying. The jerking motion caused a pain to shoot through N'Dare, but that still didn't stop the pride that came through her voice. _

_"That was amazing mom!" _

_"We are not done yet. Hold onto me; we still have the ones on the ground to deal with." No sooner had Ororo finished her statement did the sentinels on the ground began to fire at them. Ororo dodge every shot with skill and grace as she rode the air current that were her name sake. While twisting and dodging the attacks Ororo began to manipulate the weather behind her and with every twist she did she bent the air to the same, until the tail end of a tornado appeared mere feet behind her. As before she instructed her daughter to follow her lead; and with a quick notification she released N'Dare and let her trail behind her as she picked up speed, going head first into the center of the gathering of sentinels. At the last possible second Ororo twisted her body and landed with her feet firmly planted on the ground and with a summoning gesture of her hand brought the full force of the tornado down with her, causing sentinels to be torn to bits by the onslaught of her attack. Standing in the center of the destroyed sentinels Ororo surveyed the area to make sure none were left standing, and with a flick of her wrist Ororo created a updraft of air to halt N'Dare of her freefall and sat her gently beside her. _

_"We haven't much time. More sentinels are undoubtedly on their way and I will need time to prepare you." N'Dare stopped in her tracks. _

_"Prepare me for what? Mother; what is going on… where is Uncle Remy and the others? Why aren't we out there helping them?" Ororo spun on her heels to look at her daughter and for the first time N'Dare saw fear in her mother's eyes._

_"BECAUSE THERE IS NO ONE TO HELP!" sighing Ororo walked over to N'Dare and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We have lost everything… my only choice now is to make sure that you have a way of defending yourself." _

_"You've said that before… what do you mean mom; I-I don't understand." Ororo guided N'Dare to the center of the room, into a circle with ancient runes all around it. _

_"I don't have time to explain it to you in large detail but… N'Dare you are a mutant." N'Dare was dumbstruck. _

_"But how can I be a mutant? I don't have any powers." _

_"Yes… You do. Your powers are the exact same as mine my child. You have been gifted with the ability to control the very forces of nature" _

_"Then why wasn't I ever able to use them?" _

_"That is a very difficult question to answer at the moment and…"_

_ "Well try!" Ororo looked at the expression on N'Dare face; she knew that this day would come but she just hoped that when it did N'Dare would be old enough to understand._

_ "When you were but a infant I sealed away your powers…" N'Dare was stunned to say the least and more than a little bit hurt._

_ "How could you do that to me? I'm your daughter… why would you seal my powers from me?!" _

_"N'Dare you don't understand… I-I had no choice. Please you must understand that I would not take away something so special from you without a good reason." Before Ororo could explain that reason a explosion blew the doors off their hinges and sent N'Dare and Ororo sailing in the air causing N'Dare to hit her head on the pillar behind her. _

_"So this is the infamous citadel of the Goddess? I must say I was expecting something a little more lavish." That voice… Ororo would never forget that voice as long as she drew breath in her lungs. _

_"Bastion…" _

_"Ah; Ororo Munroe: codename Storm. Or should I say Queen Ororo now?" Ororo looked disdainfully at the abomination that had once plagued the X-men years ago. _

_"I should have known the humans would have reinstated you. But to be honest I didn't think they would be so stupid in their zeal to destroy mutants to release a lunatic like you!" she spat with venom dripping from every syllable. Bastion walked slowly over to Ororo with a wicked smile on his face. _

_"And I would not have guessed you would've survived this long; but I guess we were both wrong. But that can easily be rectified. You see, you and your little spawn over there is the last of a dying species; and with you death I will have accomplished my objective: the complete annihilation of the human race." With his words Ororo knew what she had to do. This world was lost; there was no undoing the damage that the sentinel's had done. Though she would be damned if she let her daughter die like this. She wasn't able to save the poor Rachel and the others but she would not lose N'Dare to this. _

_Taking one last look at N'Dare unconscious on the floor; she prayed the one day her daughter could forgive her mistakes. Turning back to Bastion Ororo eyes misted over and in a great display of power she lifted herself in the air. The sheer amount of power that coursed through Ororo caused her gown to disintegrate off her body, and soon she was surrounded in a corona of colors. Bastion stood with wide eyes as Storm slowly rose off the floor. _

_"T-This is impossible. You don't have this type of power! Y-You're even stronger than the Phoenix." Ororo's voice was like rolling thunder; her breath fire and ice. _

_"As you said yourself Bastion; this world is lost and as such I will not allow you stand when all else has fallen. You shall join the very beings you have condemned to extinction." All her life Ororo has live with restraints, always afraid that her power would go out of control. But with the death of all she knew and loved she felt that there was no more need to hold back. She would see to it that he daughter would live on… even if it meant she would not be able to see that happen. Lifting her hand Ororo began to utter words that were as old as time itself; her voice began to rise and fall in crescendo. The runes that surround the circle began to glow and so did N'Dare prone body, with tears in her eyes; Ororo gave her child her last words. _

_"Be happy my child, and no that I will always love you." And in a blinding flash N'Dare was gone; not a trace left of her. Not that Ororo had no more distractions holding her back she unleashed the full force of her elemental powers in conjunction with her magical abilities. The result was an astounding reversal of planetary output; Storm had managed to turn the entire planet into a weapon and aimed it straight at Wakanda completely obliterating it and every sentinel that was there. With her last thoughts Ororo said. "I am coming to join you my love… and may the Goddess protect our child._

_To be continued:_

A/N: Okay I will admit that this chapter in the beginning and probably throughout was a little slow moving. I always knew from the start that this would be my most difficult chapters to write solely because it would be the end of the 'Marvel Universe'. I tried really hard to keep this chapter up to par with the other ones but if I faltered please feel free to let me know. And as always your input is appreciated. Now a few details about this chapter: Remy is N'Dare parrain, which here in Louisiana is what we call our godfathers, and _Laissez le bons temps rouler means 'let the good times roll'_. Also in the final battle there is a few people who aren't considered x-men ( I'll let you figure out who they are hehe) I can guarantee that next will be all Avatar. You will meet some of the main characters of the cartoon then; I haven't quit decided if I will make this all about my oc and Zuko or if I'll only diverge from the canon a little and keep the main characters involved. I know it will be AU on most parts but we'll discuss that when the time comes. Also if you hadn't caught on, she statues in the four gardens is that of Scott and Jean, Rouge, Magneto, and Charles Xavier. The stones that they carry are supposed to represent the four elements: Fire, Earth, Air and Water. And finally to any and all x-men fans; please oh please don't hate me for killing off every single human on the marvel earth. I know it was a little bit extreme but we have to face facts that Charles' dream couldn't last forever. Again sorry for the complete genocide of an entire planet.

Also I must add this little bit of information. In this story there is a man that was named Marcus, well in actuality he was based off of a real person who I had the privilege of knowing. He and I went to school together and once we graduated he enlisted in the military. While serving his country his motorcade was ambushed by a bomb while he was refueling. He and others died that day and in honor and memory of him I put him in this story. R.I.P Marcus Cain you are truly missed.


	7. Pain

**Of Mutants and Benders**

**By: Orionstorm04**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men I only own the original idea and my OC's. Please read and review, hope you enjoy._

An: OMG where have I been?! LOL I am sooooo sorry for the long delay in this chapter I guess you could say that I got a little preoccupied. I just recently started a new job and I have been running myself ragged trying to get ready for school this semester… sorry didn't mean to unload my problems on you. Okay this chapter is the beginning of the x-over with Avatar so all the fans rejoice! This takes place at least a few days before the Day of Black Sun; it will be slightly au since I have to incorporate my oc into the mix but I think you will like the chapter, this will tell the tale of what Iroh was doing all that time he was locked up, also if any of you were wondering what my OC N'Dare looked like I have placed a link on my author's page of her when she was fighting in chapter 3. I really wanted to get this chapter out before the final episodes of the show came out because I didn't want people to think that I was taking any parts from their so I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't watch any part of the show after the boiling rock 1 & 2 until I finish my story so in a way everything will be as original as possible. Please don't forget to read and review.

_**Pain**_

They say that pain is a way for the body to know that it is alive; and that only through pain can we truly appreciate life. Well if that was true then N'Dare was more than sure that she was alive and she would appreciate it even more if the pain was to stop. N'Dare opened her eyes only to shut them immediately from the brightness of the sun and the effort of trying to bring herself to a sitting position. She tried to open them once again, only slowly this time. The image that greeted her was a sight that she truly was not expecting; encompassing her entire line of vision was a beautiful forest. It wasn't that the forest had any defining features that would mark it as superior to any other just like it; but throughout her now sixteen years of life she had never seen an actual forest. Her mother would tell her of a time when she would take walks outside the X-Mansion's ground into the nearby woods and how it would always put her at ease. As soon as the thought flashed past her mind N'Dare remembered the situation she should be in. With a frantic expression on her face she lost all pretenses of the her so-called peaceful moment and began to wonder if this was some type of sick trick that a sentinel was playing, using some sort of advanced holographic. After walking less than a few feet N'Dare tripped on an upright root and fell to her knees agitating the deep cut and broken ribs she was nursing. Looking down she mentally cursed the offending piece of foliage; then realization sunk in. This couldn't be any kind of hologram; it was the real thing. But that didn't make any sense; there were no forest left to the world and all that Wakanda had to offer was a small substitute in the form of the gardens that were positioned in different point in the palace walls. N'Dare brain began to go into overdrive.

"Nothing makes any sense. There are no forest in Wakanda; where is the palace and the city for that matter? This isn't right I should be in the Citadel of the Bright Lady; am I dead… well that's a dumb question cause if I was I wouldn't be filling these broken ribs. And where is my moth.."

Then the memories came rushing back to her. She remembered her mother trying to explain something to her; she remembered the explosion that sent her and her mother flying and then everything after that point blurred. Shaking her head N'Dare tried to force the memories to come into focus; she needed answer and she would see that she got them. As if on cue the final memory she had floated to the front of her mind, and the truth was enough to break her heart into a million pieces. She remembered waking up to a man standing in front of her mother who was floating a few feet in the air. She didn't recognize who he was but from the disdain in her mother's voice she could tell that he was not a friend. Then she brought her focus to her mother who downright left her in a state of aw; floating there looking as though she was a true goddess and not just in name. At that point N'Dare began to feel herself lose consciousness again; but not before she witnessed her mother turn to her with a sad smile on her lips and tears in her eyes telling her that she would always love her; then she feel into oblivion.

The onslaught of memories left N'Dare more drained and in pain then when she woke up. In one day she had lost everything important to her. Wakanda had fallen, her home was washed away in the blink of an eye, her people were brutally killed, she lost her friends and family, but the lost that hurt her beyond any words ever spoken was the lost of her surrogate sister and her mother. How? How was she going to go on without them? How would she survive without Rachel making her smile and her mother's comforting words? All at once the world seemed bleaker and colder than she ever thought possible. And with a soul shattering scream N'Dare let the tears that she couldn't hold back even if she wanted to flow. The wind howled almost in unison with the young girl as she cried for all she had lost and would never again be able to reclaim.

N'Dare curled herself in a ball and tried her best to will death to take her too; to return to her the loved ones that fueled her life. Self-pity had all but consumed her; she had no desire to move from the spot where she lay. Her physical pain meant nothing to her now all that remain was the yearning pit in her heart that no amount of crying could free her from. In her mind's eye N'Dare could see Rachel smiling face and at once it sparked an awareness in her that wouldn't be denied. She could almost see Rachel trying to comfort her telling her that everything would be okay; and that all she needed to do was pull herself together and move on. As soon as the mental image of Rachel telling her to get up vanished; another more prominent urge moved her and in her mind N'Dare could see her mother standing before her in all her grace and beauty. She could hear Ororo's soothing voice coaxing her to open her eyes and look at her.

"_Oh_ _my little precious one…" _at the voice N'Dare lifted her eyes to the ethereal form of her mother.

"Mom…" N'Dare whispered the word like if it was spoken any louder the image would fade.

The ghostly image of her mother gave her that soft smile that she reserved only for her little girl.

_"N'Dare you must get up! Do not let your pain consume you my child.'"_

"But you're not here! Rachel isn't here! I feel so lost and alone to the point that it hurts. I don't know how I can do this without you; I can't go on without you." Ororo gently extended her hand to her daughter's cheek.

"You will never be without me…" she then brought her hand to the necklace around N'Dare neck "You and I shall always be connected and nothing can change that… not even death. Now get up!"

Ororo last command was enough to wake N'Dare from the fitful sleep she had unwilling falling into due to the exhaustion from her wounds in conjunction with her grief. Looking around N'Dare could see no sign that her mother was ever there and soon she came to the conclusion that it was all a dream. N'Dare let a lone tear make its way down her cheek; as much as she was hurting she knew that what her mother and Rachel said in her dream was right. She had to move on; she couldn't let the pain of yesterday rule her life today. Looking around for something to support her weight on, N'Dare saw a familiar object; her Bo Staff, holding her side to apply pressure to her wound N'Dare limped her way to the baton. Slowly and carefully she lifted the staff and tried desperately not to jar her ribs in the process. With a grunt and a grimace N'Dare held her sides.

"Dang it; that really hurt!"

Bringing her hand up to eye level N'Dare seen the amount of blood that stained them. She need to move and fast; the amount of blood that she was losing and the amount that she already lose would leave her weak before long and she didn't want to be helpless while in a foreign area. Extending her staff she began to walk towards a path that leads deeper into the wooded area behind her.

"Lions, tigers and bears oh my!" N'Dare chuckled at her own joke and immediately regretted it the moment she felt her ribs moved.

"Memo to self… no more laughing until this is healed."

Having grown up without the luxury of being able to take a simple walk in the woods left N'Dare ill-prepared for the simple beauty of her surroundings. Though as beautiful as all this seemed she couldn't help but think of the price that was paid for her to be able to experience something this simple. At this point N'Dare felt as if she had been walking at least 10 mile, but in truth she had only walked a few feet. Her wound was taking more out of her than she thought; she could feel her vision starting to blur from the blood lose. She knew that she couldn't go much further without getting some kind of help, and at this point she didn't think that it would happen. Forcing her legs to keep going she walked for another thirty feet before her legs gave out on her and she collapsed to her knees grabbing her sides in complete agony. She couldn't go on anymore; the pain had finally won out and no matter how much she wanted to move she just couldn't find the strength to do so. Then a sound came to her ears; at first she couldn't tell if it was just her imagination due to the pain or wishful thinking that someone who could help her had finally came. Raising her head N'Dare gave a weak call to whoever was walking in her direction.

"Hello… is someone there?" she waited for anyone to respond but when none came she began to feel desperate.

"Please… if someone is there I need help! Hello…"

soon two men came around the thicket of shrubs that had previously blocked her vision of them. Both men were wearing clothing that she had never seen before. It looked more like body armor in all red with pointed tips on the shoulders, and on their heads were helmets that almost completely covered their faces save for their eyes nose and mouth. Despite their appearance N'Dare felt as though she couldn't be choose when it came to the people that would most likely save her life. She managed to pool all her strength together and lifted herself back to her feet with a weary smile on her face.

"Thank the Goddess you came. Can you help me? I need to get somewhere I can get my wound taken care of and a place to rest. I would be grateful if you woul…"

The man to her left swiftly pulled out a sword for its sheath and pointed directly towards her.

"Who are you; where do you come from?!"

N'Dare was a little taken aback by the man's aggression towards her; but thought better than to argue with an armed man when she really couldn't properly defend herself.

"Um… my name is N'Dare. I am the Princess of Wakanda. I mean you no harm; please is just some help." When she told the two men who she was they both feel into a fighting stance with their weapon raised and twin scowls on their faces.

"What nation is that!? I have never heard of Wakan before; I think you're some kind of spy!"

Now N'Dare was growing impatient; these two must be really dense if they couldn't tell that she was in no shape to be a spy.

"First off it's not Wakan; it's Wakanda, and second I'm not some spy. What do I need to spy on you for anyway; all I'm asking is if you would help me, but if you won't then I'll find someone that will."

N'Dare began walking past the men until the one she assumed was the leader blocked her path.

"You're not going anywhere. Since you won't tell us who you are and where you're from then you'll be coming with us."

The man reached out to grab N'Dare by the arm, but even in the shape she was in her reflexes were still face enough for her to pull away.

"I've already told you who I was!"

"Just come with us girl and you won't get hurt." Again the solider reached out for her, and this time she didn't have the strength to pull away.

"Let go of me! I didn't do anything wrong…" the grip on her arm only tightened and she knew that no amount of reason or arguing would get her out of this.

How could everything go so bad so quickly in only few seconds of time; one minute she thought she had found help and the next she was being arrested. As the man began to drag her to the other soldier to place her in restraints her stubborn side kicked in; she would let the likes of these goon take her down; not while she thought she could get away. N'Dare twisted her arm out of the soldier's grip and spun on the foot a delivered a punch as hard as she could into the man's jaw. The quick movement were brining her more pain then she really wanted; but she wouldn't give up without a fight. Turning she prepared to take on the next man; but then he surprised her by extending his fist and shooting out a ball of fire. Caught off guard; N'Dare flung herself out of the path of the flaming ball and landed roughly on the back. The moment her body made contact with the earth a blinding pain shot through her and with it tore a scream from her that could shatter glass and caused her vision to go white; the pain was enough to render her unconscious. The soldier that shot the fire walked over to make sure his comrade was okay.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah; I'm fine. The little witch caught me off guard that's all. What nation do you think sent her?" the man had a bewilder look on his face.

"I'm not sure exactly. She doesn't look like anyone that I've seen from any of the other nations; look at her skin and hair… they don't look normal to me." The soldier nodded his head in agreement.

"You right…with this invasion coming up we can't take any chances. Let's take her to the Capital and lock her up until we can get some answer." Both men took either side of their captive and began to make their way back to the Fire Nation Capital.

* * *

The city was on high alert as of late. There have been rumors that an invasion was being plotted against the Fire Nation, but no one could say for sure who the ones were planning it. So in an attempt to keep public paranoia in check the general public wasn't told the specifics of the invasion; only its date. Any suspicious activity was to be immediately reported to any member of the Fire Nation Army; and those considered to be a threat were dealt with in extreme prejudice. Walking through the throng of people carrying an unconscious, oddly dressed, dark skinned, white haired girl was more than enough to draw the stares of a few bystanders, but the men continued on as if nothing had happened. The walk to the prison didn't take them long; after bypassing the entrance gate the two guards made their way to the holding cells that were designated for the most dangerous fugitives. Being that they didn't know who the young woman was or where she came from; they weren't in a position to take her lightly. They walked passed a majority of the cell due to the fact that almost all were occupied because of the increasing threat that the invasion had caused; resulting in a gross amount of arrest.

"There aren't any more cells to put her in." guard number one said with a look of distaste on his face when he made eyes with one of the inmates.

"I know just the cell to put her in." the other guard said.

Making their way down to the lowest level in the prison where no light reached they came to a steel door. Inside sat a single occupant; his haggard and defeated look was testament to his treatment while he had been imprisoned.

"Alright old man… no funny business. We're going to put this prisoner in the cell and we don't want any trouble from you." The guard stood in a battle stance while his commanding office removed the key from his waist and unlocked the gate.

The old man inside the cage made no effort to move a muscle; he simple sat there with his backs to the officers and eyes closed. Seeing that their prisoner had yet to wake up the guards tossed her into the cell like a sack of garbage and quickly locked the gate.

"How the mighty have fallen eh General Iroh? You could have been a hero here in the Fire Nation; yet you turned your back on your people to help the Avatar and his friends escape. Well now you'll sit here and rot for the rest of your life here in this cell; but hey at least now you have a cellmate."

The two men left the room laughing at the older man. As soon as the door was shut Iroh opened his eyes to look at the new person that was brought into his cell. Looking at the girl appearance he could tell that she wasn't in the best of states and he wouldn't be too surprised to find out that the guards were the ones to put her in this condition.

"A hero indeed…" Iroh mumbled under his breath as he made his way to the young girl.

Getting closer Iroh was able to see the girl features more carefully; he was somewhat thrown off by her unusual completion; but not in the way the guards were. Being a deeply spiritual person, he was more accepting of the differences of others and knew that it didn't make them any more inferior to him; that was a lesson that the rest of the Fire Nation needed to learn. Her hair was also a little off putting; but he soon dismissed it as irrelevant, he remembered being in the North Pole when Admiral Zhao killed the moon spirit and a girl who claimed to have once been touched by the moon spirit also had white hair; so he just assumed that the girl had some kind of connection with the spirit world. The young woman had a pained expression etched on her youthful face and her clothing was tattered and torn in certain areas; it looked like she was in some kind of struggle; lifting the material near her left side Iroh spotted the reason for her discomfort. A large gash was cut into her flesh; and pressing his finger tips to the wound he was able to feel the broken ribs just underneath. The girl gave a whimper of pain in response to this touch.

"It's okay child. I will not hurt you." Hearing a voice N'Dare weakly opened her eyes.

"W-Where am I?" she asked on a whisper of her voice while trying to sit up.

The effort was too great and Iroh seeing her strain gently pushed her back down on his sleeping mat.

"You are safe now. I need to dress your wound and you need to rest. We can talk when you are better."

At his kind voice N'Dare visibly relaxed and soon fell unconscious again. Iroh sat staring at the girl for a brief moment; just to make sure that she was still breathing. Once satisfied he went to the far corner of his cell and brought the water basin that he was given to bath with over to the sleeping girl. Using some of his own clothing; Iroh made a bandage to wrap securely against her wound to apply pressure to the cut. Hearing the girl's sharp intake of air; Iroh figured that the bandage was tight enough; soon he bought a cloth out of the basin and began to whip the dirt and dried blood from her face.

"You are a peculiar girl to be sure. In my long years I have never seen anyone quit like you; silver eyed beauty." The smile that was on Iroh face may have been the first genuine one since his capture, he could tell that this girl would be a most intriguing companion.

* * *

For the first two days Iroh sat vigilantly over his young cellmate. The first night the poor child spent tossing and turning in her sleep and calling out names. Iroh wasn't sure of the trial that she had been through; but was able to see that whatever they were; they left her in a weaken state. The following day Iroh woke up to the sight of the young girl huddle in a corner with a confused look on her face.

"Well good morning to you." N'Dare continued to stare at the man and making no effort to respond to his comment. "I see you are felling better today. I'm glad; I was beginning to wonder if you would wake up at all."

Unfortunately N'Dare didn't pick up that the man was joking; she instinctively grabbed for her staff but felt nothing; she tried to play off the fact that she was still in tremendous pain; something that Wolverine taught her.

"I don't know who you are and honestly I don't care but I can assure you that I won't go down easily." Trying her best to stave off the blinding pain shooting through her side; N'Dare stared down the man with a defiant glare.

Iroh jumped to his feet and waved his hands in front of him.

"No...No you have got it all wrong. I'm not here to hurt you, I was only joking but I see now that it wasn't funny. My name is Iroh."

He followed through with his greeting by extending his hand to her. Still a little disoriented and weary; N'Dare stared at his hand like she didn't understand the gesture. Felling a little awkward Iroh began to rub the back of his neck.

"Again; I am sorry if I scared you."

Looking at the man closely; N'Dare got the feeling that he was telling the truth; he didn't mean to scare or offend her. Finally looking at her surrounding she was able to tell that he wasn't a willing guest here either. Soon N'Dare began to relax a little more and offer her apologies to the older man.

"I'm sorry that I yelled; it's just that I haven't been treated to kindly since I arrived here and I just didn't know if I had you to thank for that." Iroh waved off her apology.

"There is no need to apologize; I would have done the same thing if I were in your position. What is your name?"

N'Dare thought about his question before she even began to answer it. The last time she gave someone information on who she was she ended up in a fight with two men; one of whom was capable of throwing fire, she wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.

"Oh…um…forgive me; my name is N'Dare. What is your name again?"

"Iroh" N'Dare shook her head slightly with a soft smile on her face.

"That's right; you did mention that before. I was just too busy being rude." Iroh let out a hearty laugh at the young woman; whose name he found out was N'Dare.

"Really it's no problem. You have a very pretty name; I have never heard anything like it before. What nation do you come from?"

N'Dare didn't really know how to answer that question. Obviously she wasn't in Wakanda anymore, and it was a pretty safe bet that she probably wasn't even on the same planet. When she was younger her mother told her of the adventures she had with the X-Men; how they would often find themselves on strange and exotic alien worlds or in alternate timelines. True she didn't know that her mother was capable of sending her to one of these place or why hadn't she came along with her but she thought it best not to dwell on the matter for long. So how would she answer his question without getting into a conversation that she really couldn't all together explain?

"I'm from kinda far away. In fact I don't think you would have heard of my country; it's really small and we don't get out much" well she didn't completely lie when she told him that.

Iroh could tell from the very beginning that her origins was a matter that she didn't fell to comfortable talking about and decided to not push the issue; her past was her business and if she didn't feel comfortable talking about it then she didn't have too. Looking around in an effort to feel less awkward N'Dare had to ask.

"Where exactly are we anyway. The last thing I remember I was walking in the woods trying to find someone to help me and then two men came out, called me a spy and one threw fire at me!"

"You are in the Fire Nation's most secure prison." N'Dare was completely stunned.

"What the Hell did I do wrong to get thrown in prison?!" N'Dare winched in pain.

"You really don't have to do much in order to be put here. I have heard rumors that something big is about to happen so the guards most likely thought you were a part of some large scheme." N'Dare grabbed her side.

"Did you do this for me?" at his node N'Dare smiled. "That was very kind of you to help me when you didn't even know who I was or if I was a danger to you. You have my eternal thanks General Iroh."

Iroh was about to comment on when he suddenly realized what she just said.

"Who told you I was a General?" N'Dare let a coy smile form on her lips.

"The day the guards brought me here; I heard them saying that they would throw me in the cell with a traitorous ex-general; I just put two and two together."

"Oh; well… yes I was the one who wrapped you wound. It was pretty severe; you also have a few broken ribs. Did the guard do this to you?"

A dark cloud seemed to past over N'Dare eyes; the events of the past came rushing back to her and she was almost tempted to let them reclaim her once more. But she wouldn't fall into that again; and especially not with someone there to witness it.

"No… it wasn't the guards. I really don't want to talk about it right now so…" Iroh interrupted her before she could say anymore.

"It's okay; you don't have to speak on the subject anymore." N'Dare flashed him a thankful smile before turning to look out beyond the bars of their cell. Her eyes fell on a flag with a flame insignia on it.

"What is the Fire Nation anyway, if you don't mind me asking?" Iroh took a deep breath; this would be a long story.

Over the next couple of hours; Iroh recounted the tale of the four nations, including his part in the Fire Nation army leading up to his capture. As soon as N'Dare heard the tales of the Fire Nation's cruelty towards the other three nations she became sick to her stomach; how could one nation think that it had any right to force its views upon another. It went against everything her mother had ever taught her about ruling over a people. I was the people's right to choose what was best for them; not the choice of a single person; did these people not believe in a Democracy? Then upon hearing that there was someone out there that wanted to set everything right and bring peace back to everyone of every nation she let out a sigh of relief.

"This Avatar person sounds like a good leader. So why is he hated by your people."

"The only reason why the Avatar is hated by the Fire Nation is because my ancestor thought that he was weak and would bring down his plans of what her consider a 'Golden Age' lead by the Fire Nation." N'Dare gave Iroh a sympathetic look; she could tell that the decision of his people weighed heavily on his shoulders.

"It is sad how the delusions of one could affect the outcome of many. I was always raised to believe that a people have the right to choose their own path and nothing should supersede that inalienable right." Iroh looked at the young woman stunned.

"My eyes tell me that you are young in age but you speak like someone far beyond your years. You must have had a wonderful teacher to distill in you such values."

"She was the best..." N'Dare whispered as she thought of her mother. N'Dare let out a low yawn as her eye lids grew heavy.

"Excuse me."

"It's alright; it is getting late and you need your rest. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Why; what will we be doing then?" Iroh gave her a smile of his own while a mischievous gleam came to his eye.

"Tomorrow we begin to plan our escape. Now get some rest you will need it." N'Dare then laid her head on the mat; she wasn't entirely sure on what was going on, but she knew that Iroh was an honorable man and that she could trust him. He was right about one thing tomorrow would be a very interesting day.

* * *

Over the following days Iroh and N'Dare spent discussing possible escape plans. Getting out of the cell would be easy but making it out of the prison was another matter entirely different. With N'Dare condition Iroh really didn't want to put her in any unnecessary danger; even if she did claim that she could handle it.

"Oh come on Iroh; I can take care of myself. I'm more than capable of taking on a few guards; even if they can shoot fire." Iroh only shook his head.

"It's too dangerous! With your injuries it would be most unwise for you to go into battle. I will handle the fighting while you just stay down and do as I say."

"But it can help!"

"I am sure that you can; but we must think wisely before we act. If one of the guards were to get in a single hit; it could immobilize you and the whole plan would be ruined."

N'Dare couldn't argue with that logic, and besides the guards took her staff when they dumped her in this hellhole and there was no way she would be able to defend herself while nursing a few broken ribs without her staff.

"Fine; I'll stay low and do as I'm told. But it's not because I can't handle it okay?" Iroh chuckled before answering her.

"Over the past few days I have come to know you I am certain that you are capable to taking care of yourself; I just want to make sure that we both make it out alright."

The prospect of escape was almost tangible now; and N'Dare was hardly able to contain her happiness. Being trapped down here; even over the course of a few days; did little for her mental state of mind. She wasn't given the opportunity to grieve for her loved ones and that alone was tearing at her psyche like a crazed animal; she needed to get out of there.

"What do you plan on doing once you are free?"

That single question left her at a loss for words. What would she do once she got out? It wasn't like she had anywhere to go or anyone to turn to. She was alone in this world and that thought left her cold inside; she hated being alone. When she was little she used to make her mother stay in the room with her until she fell asleep just so she wouldn't be alone. Immediately Iroh understood what her answer would be.

"You can come with me. Honestly at this point I am not entirely sure where I am headed but you are more than welcome to join me." N'Dare gave him a grateful smile.

"Thank you. I appreciate everything that you have done and are doing for me. You will never know how much that means to me."

A comfortable silence fell over them as they both contemplated what would take place in the next twenty-four hours. Iroh had already decided that they would make the escape the day of the eclipse; it was a small window at best; but it would be there best option at this moment.

"So tomorrow during the solar eclipse we'll make a run for it… are you sure they won't be able to attack us with this fire bending you were talking about?"

Even though she was used to being surround by people who could do extraordinary things; she still was a bit skeptical that a person could actually learn to control fire simply by learning a form of martial arts.

"I am positive. Fire benders get their bending ability from the sun; and during an eclipse the completely lose their ability to bend at all. It will be the perfect time for us to make our escape. Now it's time for bed; we begin our day early tomorrow."

N'Dare walked over to the mat that Iroh had given her to sleep on and lay down.

"Goodnight Uncle Iroh."

By this time N'Dare was so tired that she really didn't notice what she had just called the man that she had only know for a few days. She was so used to having an extended family that it never occurred to her that when she meet a person who she so drawn to that she immediately considered them family. Iroh didn't bother to bring to her attention what she just called him; he figured that the child had been through enough and that he didn't need to remind her that everyone she once knew was no longer around. He just simple smiled at her back that was no faced towards him and softly whispered.

"Goodnight my niece."

* * *

The following day both N'Dare and Iroh were up at the crack of dawn. It was finally the day that the two of them would break out of the prison cell and make a run for it. Iroh had planned everything down to the last detail; they would wait until the guard came to give them their lunch then Iroh would get the keys from him and then they would sneak out. The plan was simple in its complexity; but like Uncle Logan always told her.

"The simplest plans are always the best."

Around 10:30 there was a shift in the guard duty which was unexpected but not something that could ruin their plans. The one piece of satisfying news was that the guard that had replaced the other one was the exact same guard that brought her here, and ever since she had arrived she had been aching for some pay back. Even though she promised Iroh that she would leave all the fighting to him; she couldn't let this opportunity pass her by. At exactly 11:00 the guards brought her and Iroh the food. She was pretending to be sleeping on her mat against the wall while Iroh sat in the middle of the floor in what the guard thought was a meditative state. As soon as he was close enough to the gate the guard prepared to slip the food through the bars. Then without warning Iroh shot to his feet and swiftly grabbed the guard by the collar and slammed his head into the bar knocking him unconscious. Hear the man faint cry the guard that had brought N'Dare there came rushing in to see what the problem was.

"Xang!"

Seeing the man unconscious on the floor and Iroh standing at the gate the man was at a loss for words. Before either one of them could speak a word an explosion powerful enough to shack the wall even at this depth rocked the room. Momentarily thrown off balance the man stumble into the door of the cell and Iroh grabbed him in a choke hold; then using all his strength managed to pull the man enough to where the bars separating the snapped. Watching the whole thing from her place in the corner; N'Dare stared at Iroh. I amazed her beyond word to witness him us a man's body to brake the bar of their cell. Walking over N'Dare leaned over the man who was responsible for putting her in the godforsaken place. Looking closely she spotted her staff dangling around his waist and swiftly pulled it off of him.

"This is mine." With a smile on her face she looked up to see Iroh waiting for her at the hole that he made in the cell.

"Come on; we must go! I don't know what is happening outside; but it has given us a distraction to slip out unnoticed."

Making their way to the door Iroh noticed the handle begin to move from someone opening it. Placing a hand on N'Dare shoulder to stop her from moving; her crouched low in a battle ready stance and prepared himself to take on anyone who came through that door. As soon as the door was opened Iroh extended his fist and aimed for the persons head; but the moment his eyes saw whom it was that was standing their her immediately halted his attack.

"Zuko!"

Pulling back from the fist that was heading towards his face; Zuko fell backwards. N'Dare stared at the boy on the floor in front of Iroh; he had shoulder length hair that fell in his eyes and the left eye was badly scared; she recalled the stories of Iroh told her of his nephew who had turned his back on everything his uncle taught him.

"Uncle… I was on my way to rescue you."

N'Dare was able to tell that Iroh didn't all together believe his nephew; but she was also able to tell that a part of him really wanted to believe what the boy was saying.

"You should leave here now Prince Zuko. If you father found out that you were down here at the exact time of my escape he will have you severely punished!"

Zuko stood up off the floor and stared at his uncle with the most pleading look N'Dare had ever seen.

"I don't care what my father say or thinks. You were right Uncle; I was a fool to think that I could win my father approval; and I should have never betrayed you in Ba Sing Se…" Zuko fell to his knees in front of his uncle "I ask for your forgiveness Uncle Iroh… even though I'm not worthy."

N'Dare watched the exchange between uncle and nephew; she didn't know Zuko personally so she wasn't able to judge him based solely on events that she wasn't around to witness, but based on this show of remorse she couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. Meanwhile Iroh stood before his nephew and could make heads or tail of what was happening. He was at a loss; had Zuko finally learned to stop living his life based on his father approval or was this just some trick to lure Iroh into a false sense of security. His brain was telling him to just take N'Dare and leave while there was still time and not take one look back on the person who had betrayed his trust; but his heart wouldn't allow him to turn his back on the boy that had been like a son to him.

"You are more than worthy of my forgiveness my Nephew. I just hope that the lessons that you have learned over the past few week will not desert you later on in life."

Zuko looked up from his kneeling position to stare into his uncle eyes. The hardest part about this decision to leave the Fire Nation and join the Avatar was to gain his Uncle approval and now that he had it he felt like a weight had been lifted off of him.

"Thank you Uncle. I promise this time I will stand by any and everything you tell me without an ounce of hesitancy…" Zuko then looked beyond his uncle and noticed that someone was standing behind him; it was a girl.

She looked like no one he had ever seen before; she had smooth brown skin with the most stunning shock of sliver white hair he had ever seen. True the people of the southern and northern water tribes had tanned skin but this was unlike any other. Then he looked into her eyes and his breath caught in his throat; staring back at him were the most alluring silver colored eyes he had ever seen. N'Dare notice that Zuko was staring at her, and it didn't seem as though he was aware of it. Iroh noticing his nephew stare at N'Dare cleared his throat.

"Prince Zuko; this is N'Dare. She will be coming with me. N'Dare this is my nephew Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation." Finally snapping out of the trance that this new girl put him in; Zuko blushed and bowed to the young girl across from him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you N'Dare."

N'Dare did a formal greeting that she was taught while home in Wakanda; which consisted of a low bow while kissing the tips of her figures on her right hand and bringing them to her heart.

"The pleasure is all mines Prince Zuko." Both Zuko and N'Dare blushed when their eyes made contact again.

"We should leave now. There is a invasion going on right now and we don't have much time to get out of the city." Iroh and N'Dare followed Zuko out of the room and down the hall leading to the exit.

"Who would be bold enough to lead an attack against the Fire Nation Capital?" Iroh asked in wonderment as they continued down the hall.

"I believe the Avatar is leading this attack; but it doesn't matter. Somehow Azula found out about the attack weeks ago and now father and the others are waiting to move against them."

Iroh was somewhat upset that the invasion lead by Avatar Ang would not be successful; but was happy that the rumors of his death were incorrect. Finally making their way outside; Iroh and the other's eye meet a most astonishing sight. Hugh flying ships littered the sky following a small group of people heading to the shores of the Fire Nation. Of what he could tell this must have been the invasion force that Zuko had mentioned, and it didn't look like everything was going their way.

"Come on… this way. I have a balloon that will take us out of the city!" Iroh and N'Dare followed Zuko outside of the prison wall and over to a small cliff not too far away.

"Where are we going to go now that the resistance against the Fire Nation has fallen?" N'Dare asked fearful of what the answer would be. Iroh was the one to answer her question.

"I doubt the Avatar will be captured in this battle. We will leave and hope that he makes it out; then we will meet up with them later."

Satisfied with his answer; N'Dare made her way to the balloon. Soon they were airborne and moving away from the prison and behind the floating war ships. Once in the air N'Dare finally felt as though she could breath; it had been days since she seen the sun and she didn't know how much she would miss it until it was taken away from her. Looking in the distance N'Dare was shocked to see a large flying animal making its way across the skies and being followed by the war ships.

"What in the Goddess name is that?!" Iroh and Zuko turned in the direction that she was referring to and spotted the girls cause for alarm. With a smile on his face Zuko answered.

"That's the Avatar flying bison. It looks like he's head west."

Iroh nodded his head in agreement. He knew that the entire invasion party couldn't have gotten away on the Avatars bison; which meant that some of them were captured. It was true, the Avatar was heading west and that could only lead to one place; the Western Air Temple. He decided to give the Avatar and his friends a few days alone to come to grips with the capture of their friends.

"He is heading towards the Western Air Temple. We will let them fly ahead of us so we won't draw attention to them."

At first Zuko wanted to argue; try to explain that he needed to talk to the Avatar and ask him if he could join them; but then he remembered the words that he had spoken to his uncle mere minutes before.

"Alright Uncle well give them a day's head start and try to meet up with them at the Western Air Temple." Now that they were on their way out of the Fire Nation Capital N'Dare thought that she could rest; she had a feeling that the next couple of days would be really eventful.

To be continued.


	8. You don't know me!

**Of Mutants and Benders**

**By: Orionstorm04**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men I only own the original idea and my OC's. Please read and review, hope you enjoy._

A/N: Alright people this is it! We're getting to the good parts of the story. I said in one of my a/n that I wouldn't watch the new shows after the boiling rock; but I got the DVD and watched it anyway. But the good thing is that it won't affect how my story goes. Some of the episodes I will use, such as _The Ember Island Players,_ simply because I think it will fit into this. Also I have been adding fan art to my author's page so that readers can better in vision what my character and the key moments will look like.

I want to ask that all Avatar fans please give this story a chance; I know in the beginning it doesn't seem like an avatar story but that's only to set up the plot. This will be another one of those character driven chapters, this will be to flush out more character development and to show character interaction. Next chapter though will have a lot more action in it but will still have substance. I want to thank a very special reviewer: **Young Neil;** he reviewed everything for me on this story and was a real great motivator for this chapter. Also to **ShadowDragon-24** for Beta'ing and also to **Sakura Neko-Chan 13** for review all those times. You guys have been a wonderful help to me over the last couple of days and I want you to know who much all this really means to me.

_**You Don't Know Me!**_

All she could see was death. As far as her eyes could see the entire city was in ruin; the once proud nation of Wakanda had fallen in all but a day. Her home was destroyed, her people massacred and her family slain. All in the blink of an eye the last Bastion of the human race was whipped out by an armada of cybernetic monstrosities and she was all that was left. Standing on the brink of a ruined nation stood a girl barely sixteen years of age against a force that had obliterated an entire planet. She would give anything to have her family beside her, to stand with her against this threat; and almost as if to answer her prayers the ghostly images of her family appeared before her. Her joy was insurmountable, but it soon fell into unbridled guilt and anguish.

"You let us die petite." The ghostly image of her Uncle Remy accused.

"No! I-I didn't! I tried, really…" she tried to plead with the man that had been like a father to her.

"It seems that no amount of training could make you into a protector!" it was Betsy who threw those harsh words at her.

"Aunt Elizabeth… it wasn't like that; I tried to protect everyone. I didn't want any of this to happen!" their words were like sharp razor edges, slicing through her already fragile emotional state.

One after the other; people who she considered her closest family tormented her with accusations of her betrayal; all accusing her of not doing enough to protect those near and dear to her. She began to shake her head in denial, this couldn't be right; these were the people who loved and nurtured her since she was born. What could have changed in them that would cause them to hate her; she, the surrogate daughter to all of them. Or was it she who had changed? She had let them all down; when the people she loved more than life itself needed her the most she failed in her duties as future Queen to protect those in her charge. Soon she began to whimper and beg for them to forgive her and tried to explain that there was nothing more she could do, she had fought as hard as humanly possible to make sure no one got hurt.

"Did you really, Dee? Did you do everything to make sure we all got out okay? You were supposed to have my back… and when I needed your help you weren't there!" the voice of Rachel screamed at her.

N'Dare brought her tear stained eyes to meet the translucent image of Rachel; her closest friend… her sister.

"Rachel… I am so sorry. I really tried; I never meant for you to get hurt and I would give anything to change the past."

Losing Rachel was one of the most painful moments throughout this entire ordeal; and now to have her sister stand before her and accuse her of causing her death was more than she could bear. Before she could even say more on the matter, a comforting voice rang clearly above all others.

"There was nothing more you could have done, my child."

"Mother…" the images of her family disappeared and all that remained was Ororo.

"Zuri… you will get over this with time, but do not let your grief consume you." The tears began to flow from N'Dare's eyes; her mother would always call her by that name when she was trying to comfort her. With those parting words, Ororo began to fade like all the others. N'Dare rose to her feet and began to beg her mother to stay.

"Mother; please don't go! Please!"

Soon, N'Dare could feel someone shaking her and calling out to her; but she ignored it. All she wanted was for her mother to stay with her and make everything all better; but the voice was more persistent.

"N'Dare… N'Dare, wake up."

N'Dare continued to fight the urge to wake up; she didn't want to return to the real world, there was nothing there that could make the pain go away and she was tired of waking up to the fact that she was now all alone in this world. Soon the person on the other side of the sleep veil won out and N'Dare slowly opened her eyes and was greeted with the concerned face of Iroh. She careful rose into a sitting position; mindful of her broken ribs.

"What's wrong…were we followed?" N'Dare asked, slightly withdrawn as the remnants of her dream continued to plague her thoughts. Iroh fixed N'Dare with a concerned look; he could tell that something was bothering his young companion, as at the moment, she was trembling slightly and staring blankly at the wall of the cave that they had found to shelter them for the night.

"No, we were not followed. N'Dare is there something bothering you?"

N'Dare immediately focused her eyes on the one person who had been a symbol of support for her since she had arrived in this strange place. She knew that she could trust him, he hadn't given her any reason not to; but the subject was still a little to tender for her to speak on. Besides, she thought trying to explain the existence of other worlds would be too much for the old man's heart to take. She soon dropped the mask of her being as strong as she had always been.

"Nothing is wrong… what makes you ask?"

Iroh was able to detect the slight change in her mood and was fully able to see what she was trying to do. Again, he wasn't sure what had happened to the young woman before she was brought to his cell; but he was able to tell that whatever it was; it plagued her in the most extreme way imaginable. He began to answer her question tentatively so as not to over step his boundaries.

"Well… you were tossing and turning in your sleep and you were calling out names."

N'Dare hung her head; she had no idea she was talking in her sleep. She had no way to answer his questions without lying and her mother had always taught her that there could be more damage done by lying than by telling the truth. Thinking back to her mother's lesson on being honest left a bittersweet feeling in her. All her life, N'Dare thought that her mother kept no secrets from her; but in the end she found out that her mother was keeping the biggest secret of all from her. All this time, and her mother never told her that she was, in fact, a mutant.

How could someone who says they love you keep something so important from you? She was her daughter, for goodness sake! How could she keep this from her? Didn't she know how much pain she could have spared her by simply telling her the truth? Didn't she know all the night she had spent crying because she felt as though she was not meant to be related to her? And the most painfully obvious question she had was, if only her mother had released her powers from their seal years ago, she could have helped her maintain the storms surrounding Wakanda or, at the very least, helped defend her home from the monsters that attacked them. She had never felt so betrayed and lost in her entire life, and all she wanted was to be alone with her thoughts; but she knew that if she was to be left alone for any amount of time the guilt, grief, anger, and confusion would once again consume her.

"N'Dare…"

Again, she brought her attention to Iroh, offering him an apologetic smile.

"No Iroh; there is nothing wrong. I was simply having a bad dream; nothing to worry about."

Iroh chose to accept that maybe this was not the time for her to reveal her pains and past with him just yet, so, smiling warmly, he gave her a slight hug.

"Hmm… those bandages need to be changed. You don't want the wound to get infected. We also need more fire wood; this wind storm is getting pretty intense. I will go get the wood and Zuko will help you change your bandages."

Both teens looked at the older man with a shocked expression on their faces.

"But…" both Zuko and N'Dare said simultaneously.

Since leaving the Fire Nation prison earlier that day neither one of them had spoken more than two words towards each other.

"Uncle… maybe I should get the fire wood. It would be easier on your back."

Iroh just waved him off with a laugh.

"I have been keeping myself physically fit since we have last seen each other, Nephew; I don't think a few branches will be able to bring me down." Iroh then made his way to the entrance of the cave; truthfully, he had ulterior motives to leave the two of them alone. A part of him thought that maybe Zuko would be able to relate to her, being that he had just went through some life altering changes in his life. He also had business that required his immediate attention and not a moment could be wasted.

Watching his uncle leave the cave, Zuko felt as if he were being set up. He turned back in the direction of the girl that he had just met earlier that day.

"Umm… I guess I should help you with those."

At first, he was at a complete loss as to what he should be doing; but then reason kicked in. Over the past few years, he had treated enough injuries to be able to redress a wound blindfolded. Walking over to the girl, he kneeled beside her.

"We're going to have to take these old ones off." Once he realized that he just asked her to take off her bandages he began to blush furiously.

N'Dare simply looked up at him half expecting him to pass out from embarrassment; boys always had a tendency to be nervous around her. Slowly N'Dare began to lift the tattered remains of her once elegant birthday dress that was also covered in blood, both hers and Rachel's. Zuko stared at her well toned stomach, perhaps longer than was necessary, before he realized what he was doing. If Mae had been here she would have thrown a dagger right in both eyes for that little mistake. Pushing aside the image of Mae impaling him with her daggers, Zuko began to remove the bandage from N'Dare's side. Looking at the wound, Zuko had to draw in a pained breath; he had never seen such a bad cut, he didn't even need to be trained in medicine to notice the few broken ribs she had.

"Who did this to you?" he genuinely wanted to know who could be capable of doing such a thing to a girl.

Turning her head away from him, N'Dare murmured her answer.

"Monsters…"

Zuko pulled his eyes from the wound and looked at N'Dare's face with confusion.

"Monsters? What kind of monster could do something like this? I mean, it looks like a wound you would get by being in a war."

N'Dare turned her eyes in Zuko's direction; the silver of her irises had turned a deep steel color due to the anger and hurt that had immediately seized her.

"You don't know what you're talking about! You have no right to pry into my personal affairs!" caught off guard by her anger, Zuko responded in a less-than-kind manner.

"I was just asking a question; you don't need to yell!" the two stared at each other heatedly, neither of them willing to loss the upper hand.

Soon, Zuko relented and went back to cleaning her wound. Immediately after Zuko had dropped the eye contact between them, N'Dare felt sorry for yelling at him; soon her guilty conscience got to her.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just that I really don't like to talk about everything that happened to me right now." Zuko gave no response; he just continued to clean the wound. For a moment she began to think that he didn't hear her, but soon she dismissed that; she had spoken loud enough for him to have heard. He was ignoring her, she yelled at him one time and he acts like a baby and ignores her; she would never understand men and their precious egos and she wasn't about to let him just sit there and sulk.

"I said I was sorr…"

"I can understand that. There are plenty of things that are in my past that I don't really like to talk about." Having him suddenly start talking caused N'Dare to stop in the middle of her sentence, eyes widened.

"Some things you just want to keep to yourself and hope that they just go away…" Zuko still refused to look up and continued to clean and wrap her wound. "You just hope that, with time, every bad thing that has happened to you will simply vanish and that you can just move on with your life." Finally bringing his eyes to meet hers, Zuko finished his thoughts. "But I can honestly say that the only way you can move on is to not let the past control you. My uncle was always there to help me, even when I didn't want his help, and, now that I look back on it, I know that having him there was what helped me get through a lot of my pain. You can't keep everything bottled up or it will consume you like a flame gone out of control; so the only way that you can maintain the flame is to have someone there to help you." The sincerity in Zuko's eyes let N'Dare know that he had been through something as equally pivotal in his life as her situation has been for her.

The two sat in silence for quite some time. Neither of them knew what to say; N'Dare was thinking over what Zuko had just said. She knew that, on some level, he was right, but he just didn't know the pain of losing everything in one day. N'Dare decided that she didn't want to dwell on it right now.

"So what about you? Where did you get that scar?" She questioned.

Zuko tensed at the question, and quickly finished wrapping her bandage, and soon gave her the same look she gave him when he asked about her wound.

"I don't really want to talk about it."

N'Dare nodded her head in understanding.

"Fair enough… so what would you like to ask me, other than about my wound?" N'Dare said with a slight laugh. Zuko gave a soft smile in return.

"Well… you and my uncle seem kind of close; can I ask about that?"

"Your uncle was there when I really needed someone. He helped me when the guards first put me in that cell when no one else would. In truth, I owe him my life; it's as simple as that."

"Yeah… uncle can have that effect on people sometimes."

N'Dare regarded Zuko with a curious eye.

"Was it really that bad…? I mean, whatever it is that's causing you all this pain? Was it really that bad that you can't bring yourself to talk about it?" She was able to see the pain that was pasted across his face before he had time to hide it. "Ugh… stupid question, I am so sorry. And just after the way I yelled at you for prying into my business. Just for that, I'll skip my turn in this little game of twenty questions." Zuko looked at her confused at the mention of a game. "Never mind, just ask your next question."

Zuko thought hard about his next question… what would he ask her? He thought it best to start with the obvious one.

"Why is your skin that dark?"

"Excuse me?! What the hell kind of question is that?!"

Zuko's face dropped and he began to lean back, afraid the girl would punch him in the face.

"Well… I never saw anyone whose skin was as brown as yours."

Soon, understanding came over N'Dare; she was no longer on her earth and, maybe on this world, the different cultures really hadn't come across one another. She soon regained her composure and again apologized for her rude outburst and then proceeded to explain her complexion. "Well, where I'm from, pretty much everyone looks like this. Mind you, they don't all have the silver hair; that's something I inherited from my mom."

"Where are you from?"

N'Dare gave him a playful smile.

"I think that constitutes as two questions, Zuko, and that is going against the rules." Realizing that she wasn't really angry this time, Zuko gestured for her to ask the next question. "Well I know your uncle can…umm… what did he call it? 'fire-bend'… can you do it to?"

"Yeah I can. As a matter of fact, he was the one who trained me."

Immediately N'Dare wanted to ask him to show her but reframed from breaking the rules that she just called him on.

"Now it's my turn… where do you come from?"

N'Dare thought of how she could explain that answer to him without revealing too much. She knew that she was nowhere on earth and was sure that Wakanda didn't exist here; Hell she wasn't even sure if Africa was still a continent. Of course, on the other hand, looking at Zuko, Iroh and pretty much every other person she came across, they all seemed to be of Asian descent, but of course, she wouldn't assume anything at this point.

"Well, let's just say that I'm from a nation really, really far away from here… more like a galaxy far, far away." She mumbled the last part to where Zuko couldn't hear. "Now it's my turn again… I want you to show me some of your 'fire-bending'."

"Alright"

Zuko stood up and walked farther into the center of the cave. N'Dare was a little shocked that he would agree so easily; she automatically assumed that he wouldn't want to show her since she had been so rude earlier. She was immediately focused and intrigued as to what it would look like to see someone manipulate fire by doing martial arts and decided that, maybe, she would take notes to help her in her fighting. Soon, Zuko took a fighting stance with a focused look in his amber-colored eyes, and soon began to go into a succession of punches and kicks. With every punch or kick, a burst of flames shot out from his hand or foot. It was amazing to witness something so elegant and powerful all at the same time; it was almost as if his passion fueled the fire that he controlled.

Looking at him perform such feats of superhuman capabilities made N'Dare think about her own powers; her mother had told her, before she had lost consciousness, that she, too, was a mutant, and that her powers were exactly the same as hers. But, to be honest, she couldn't feel any difference within her. It made absolutely no sense… she could remember countless times that she would witness her mother's emotions manifest themselves as weather around her, but she still felt like the same, old, powerless N'Dare.

Soon, her attention began to waver… she had to know if what her mother said was true. But how could she see? It wasn't like she knew how to control the weather. Soon an idea came to her; she would simply will a storm to appear in the cave. That way, she would know that she was the one who did it and that it was just natural weather. Closing her eye she tried to focus on creating a rain cloud in the small cave.

"What are you doing?"

Hearing Zuko's question, N'Dare quickly thought that she had managed to make her rain cloud and that he was asking out of wonder, but when she opened her eyes all that greeted her was a very confused-looking Zuko. Looking at the ceiling of the cave, the only thing that was there were stalagmites and the eyes of a few creatures that she couldn't name if she tried. Depression soon crept into her heart… maybe her mother was mistaken, maybe she just assumed that N'Dare had powers because of her dwindling grasp over her own powers. With sadness in her eyes, N'Dare apologized for what seemed like the millionth time that night.

"I'm sorry… I guess I'm just tired."

"Maybe you should get some rest… you need to sleep so that your wound can heal properly."

N'Dare gave a fake yawn to support her claim of being tired, and looked towards the entrance of the cave.

"Iroh has been gone for quite some time… do you think he's alright?"

"I'm sure he's fine. Uncle Iroh is more than capable of taking care of himself; he probably just stop to look at some rare flower that he think he can make into tea." Zuko said with a slight smile on his face as he remembered the time when his uncle mistook a poisonous flower as a rare tea leaf.

"I suppose you would know better than me… well, goodnight Zuko."

"Goodnight."

N'Dare must have been really tired, because the moment her head hit her sleeping mat, she feel into a light sleep. Zuko took his spot on the opposite side of the cave; the last few hours had been really draining to him. So many things ran through his mind at that point; he had decided to leave his home and give his support to the Avatar, he confronted his father about his treatment and banishment and the subsequently fought his father because of his choice to leave the Fire Nation. And the tip of his mountains of worry was the fact that his father had told him that his mother was alive.

That part left a real block on everything else; he was lead to believe that his mother had died years ago, and now the truth left him indescribable emotions. He couldn't decide if he was happy or not. Well, of course he was happy that his mother was really alive, but at the same time he was lost as to why she hadn't tried to contact him since his banishment. All of that coupled with the fact that he had to potentially beg his former enemy to let him join his ranks to help take down his own father! Life, at this point, was a complete mess and he knew that it would get far worse before it got better. Soon, he heard a sound coming from the entrance to the cave and immediately prepared to fight.

"It's only me, Zuko." Came his Uncle Iroh's voice. Zuko relaxed and approached his uncle.

"Where were you, uncle?"

"Is N'Dare sleeping?"

Zuko looked over his shoulder to see if the girl was still sleeping, then turned back to his uncle with confusion on his face.

"Yeah… why, Uncle is something wrong? Did someone find us?"

Iroh waved away his worries.

"No, it's nothing serious. I have to leave soon and I don't know when I'll be coming back."

"What!? Why… what's going on Uncle? What aren't you telling me?"

"I can't say right now, Zuko. All I can say that it is very important to the war. I just need you to trust me."

Hearing his uncle as for his trust, Zuko nodded. Iroh looked over Zuko's shoulder to the sleeping form of N'Dare. It looked like this sleep was a lot more peaceful than her last, and that was a good sign.

"I need for you to do something for me Zuko…"

"What is it?"

"I need you to look after N'Dare."

"What!? Why me?! I mean, uncle I barely know her, and now you're asking me to look after her?"

"She doesn't have any family here and I don't want for her to get captured and returned to the Fire Nation."

"I understand that uncle, but I was planning to join the Avatar and I don't think that it would be safe for her to be around." Iroh laughed at his nephew.

"I think you're just scared to be around such a pretty girl…" Zuko's cheeks turned slightly pink then.

"I have a girlfriend!" He retorted.

"She says she can take care of herself and I, for one, believe her," responded Iroh.

At that, Zuko turned serious.

"Then how did she get those cut and broken ribs if she can take care of herself?"

"I'm not sure, she never told me about her life before she was put in the cell with me. Though I suspect that where she came from, she had a really tough time." both Zuko and Iroh looked at N'Dare sleeping in the far corner of the cave.

"I still don't think it's a good idea for her to come with me, but if you think it's best then I won't argue. When are you leaving?"

"Tonight, I have to meet a friend of mine on the beach before dawn."

"Be careful Uncle."

"I will, now let's get some sleep. We both have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Iroh walked over to his sleeping mat and prepared himself for bed, while Zuko went to his mat. Zuko wasn't sure how things could get any worse; now he had to take care of a strange girl that he barely knew and try to convince the Avatar and his friends that he was no longer out to kill them. His life just got harder and harder with every day.

The following morning, before day break, Iroh began to pack his things for his journey. He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice someone walking up behind him.

"You're leaving?"

Iroh nearly jumped ten feet in the air at the sound of the voice. Holding his hand to his heart, Iroh turned around.

"I didn't know you were awake... You should be sleeping, N'Dare. How else will your wound heal?"

"I think they're fine enough for me to see you off. Besides, this will be my first sunrise as a free woman here in the Fire Nation; I can't pass that up, can I?"

"I guess not. How did you know that I was leaving?"

"You and Zuko were talking so loud last night, that you could have woken the dead." N'Dare informed with a chuckle.

"Oh… I hope you can understand why I didn't want to take you with me. I think you will safer with Zuko at this point."

N'Dare hugged herself as though she was cold. For some reason, she felt as if she were being abandoned again, even though she knew she had no reason to feel that way. She hadn't known Iroh all that long, but she felt as if he were the only person she had at the moment and she really didn't want to lose him.

"I can help you Iroh… when my wound is healed, I can help you with whatever you have planned."

Iroh felt his heart break slightly at the girl's desperation in trying to convince him to take her with him.

"I'm not leaving you with Zuko because I don't think you could help. I'm leaving you with him because I know you will be a greater asset here."

She didn't believe that for a second.

"You think I will slow you down, don't you? You're just trying to protect me from harm's way, when will people learn that I'm not some delicate flower that need protection, and that I can handle myself?!"

"That's not what I meant at all… N'Dare, I know you can take care of yourself. Since the moment that I met you, I sensed that you were capable of your own protection, you don't need to prove that to me."

Looking in his eyes, N'Dare knew that he really did think she could handle herself; and, at that moment, that was all she needed. Looking at the bracelet that Rachel had given her for her birthday, N'Dare removed the charm in the shape of a flame.

"This was given to me by someone really special to me. It was a symbol of our relationship and how important she was to me. I want you to take this with you, so that you will always know that you will forever mean so much to me… uncle Iroh."

Iroh looked at the gift that N'Dare had just placed in his hand. The craftsmanship of the jewel was unlike anything he had ever seen in any of the four nations, but it was the sentiment behind the gift that really gave it value. This young woman that he had only known for a weeks' time, had decided to bestow upon him a gift, so rare and precious to her, that, at first, words could not describe how he felt. He had always wanted a daughter, though he had always found himself lucky when it came to the love of his son, a daughter would have given him the opportunity to spoil her to her heart's content.

"I will treasure it always," Iroh said while wrapping the girl in a loving embrace.

The two stayed like that for quite some time before Iroh began to pull away; he would soon have to leave to meet his friend at the rendezvous point. N'Dare looked fondly at the man that had helped her out so much since she was dropped here.

"I want you to be careful alright, Uncle Iroh? That means no doing anything foolish that's going to get you hurt." Iroh laughed at the girl's antics as she began to straighten out his vest.

"I won't, and I hope you can keep Zuko in line while I'm gone."

"Please, Zuko will be a piece of cake. Trust me, I have had an easier time with men a lot worse than him."

Not long after they finished talking did Iroh begin to walk away through the dense woods and to his destination. Watching Iroh disappear from sight, N'Dare couldn't help but feel a twinge and sorrow. She knew that she would miss him while he was gone; now she wouldn't have anyone that she felt close to. Looking at the sunrise from behind a mountain range, N'Dare felt suddenly calmer, something about the promise of a new day tended to put her at ease and soon she made her way back to the cave to wake Zuko.

To be continued...


	9. Not Alone

**Of Mutants and Benders**

**By: Orionstorm04**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men I only own the original idea and my OC's. Please read and review, hope you enjoy._

A/N: Update time! Well at least I hope it will be. At the moment I'm typing this, there is another hurricane heading towards Louisiana, which can mean a few things. 1) It might mean that I won't get to update things for a few days( even though it's been a month since I updated anyway : P) 2) I may have to evacuate, which means that traffic will be Hell again and to be honest I'm getting tired of evacuating! TT. Not to mention the damage bad weather keeps doing to my house. Oh well no use crying over something that ain't happened yet. To all my reviewers; I love you all, Sakura NedoChan 13 you have been a great help, Young Neil you da best, and its so good to see somebody else from da souf dat I can actually talk to wit a accent and probably won' look at me like I don' los' my mind, it does a southerner' good to just let go of all da preconceptions of what dey should be and be who they feel comfortably as. And I of course have to give a huge thank you to shadow dragon, for she will always be a friend. And anonymous 666… one day I'll find out who you are so that I can give you a proper thank you.

**Not Alone…**

Waking Zuko proved to be an extremely hard task. It took her over fifteen minutes to get him up, and when she finally did get him to even approach the world of the living, he fell back down on his sleeping mat.

"Give me a break…" N'Dare grumbled.

They didn't have all day to lie around and sleep in, she wasn't entirely sure where they were going, but she knew she didn't want to spend another minute in that cramped cave. She was never what one could consider 'spoiled'; but being raised in a palace with attendants' constantly there to answer your every beck and called tended to make a person a little used to a certain lifestyle. And right now, wondering around in an unknown place with a huge cut on her side, with broken ribs, and sleeping in caves really wasn't fitting the bill.

"Fine… you don't want to wake up huh? Well we'll have to change that." Making her way out the cave and to the nearby spring, N'Dare filled the pouch she was given the previous night by Iroh, with water then walked back to the cave. Standing at Zuko's side with the pouch of water still in her hand, N'Dare gave him one final warning.

"If you don't get your butt out of bed right now, heaven help me Zuko, I swear you'll regret it!"

"Mmmm…" was his only response.

"That's it!" she couldn't take it anymore, her wound was bothering her, she was still a little sleepy herself and Iroh had left with only a vague excuse. Uncorking the water bottle in her hand, she began to pour the icy cold contents on Zuko's head.

"What the… why did you do that?!" Zuko asked with wild eyes.

"Well I've been trying to wake you up for the last twenty minutes, and nothing seemed to be working." She said nonchalantly, she was determined to not get in another yelling match with him; at least not right now, looking around the cave, Zuko notice that his uncle was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Uncle?"

"He left."

"Ohh… so you know?" Zuko watched as her mood seemed to change slightly; he could see how her shoulders feel a little.

"Yes… I heard you two talking last night. He wants me to stay with you… I guess whatever he has to do was important, because he was up before dawn; I just barely caught him before he left."

"Sooo…"

Having swiftly grown tired of the conversation at hand, and not really wanting to continue N'Dare cut him off.

"It's no big deal… he has to do what he has to do. And so do we, well I guess I mean you; since I'm only your tag along. Now where exactly are we going again; and why?"

"We're headed towards the Western Air Temple…" Zuko began to pick up his sleeping mat, he didn't know what he was going to do once he caught up with the avatar and his friends, but he knew that he at least had to try. He had a lot to make up for, and the first place to start was with the avatar.

"What is the 'Western Air Temple'?"

Zuko looked at her for a while; he knew that it was a long time ago that the air nomads had been whipped out; but to never have hear of them was something entirely different. Come to think of it, he didn't really know anything about the girl that would be traveling with him.

"Where did you say you were from again?"

"I never said where I was from." N'Dare could spot that lame excuse, to get some information out of her, from a mile away, and if he wanted to know anything about her, he would have to do a lot better than that.

"Well the Western Air Temple was once the home of the air nomads…"

"Air nomads?"

"People who were trained in the art of airbending..."

"Oh, okay; kinda like you are with firebending, Wow… so are they friendly or do we have to fight our way in? Cause I can tell you now that I don't think I'll be much help with this." She said while indicating her side.

"The air nomads were killed off a long time ago… the avatar is the only one left."

N'Dare stopped in her tracks, how could an entire civilization be whipped out? Well… she, more than anyone should know what it feels like to lose an entire people; but how could this have happened here, in such a relatively primitive place?

"How were they killed?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now." The shame of knowing that his people were directly responsible in the genocide of the Air Nomads made Zuko sick to his stomach. As a child, he was always taught that the Fire Nation was simply trying to share with the world their prosperity, but know he was able to see that for what it was; a lie. His father wasn't trying to bring the Fire Nation's prosperity unto the world, he was trying to domineer it, have everyone under his rule and his rule alone. The annihilation of the Airbenders was just a way to make sure that there was no one to stand in the Fire Nation's way.

"Come on, we have a long journey ahead of us and if we want to make it there before night fall we have to leave now."

N'Dare could see in his mood change that the subject of the air nomads was a subject that he wasn't too keen on talking about at that particular time. Watching Zuko leave the cave with his sack thrown over his shoulder, and her sack in his other hand and a blank look in his eyes, N'Dare choose not to broach the matter any further, if she was meant to learn about what happened to the air nomads then she would find out in due time. Following him out to the airship that had taken them from the Fire Nation capital, N'Dare tried hard not to make any sudden movements; she was tired of the constant pain that her wound was giving her.

"What I wouldn't give to have Uncle Logan's healing factor right about now." The thought of her recently deceased uncle caused that same dull pain to strike at her heart. True things would be different now and would most likely never be the same; she did just lose everyone and everything she had ever known. Though the one thing she wished she could lose always seemed to be staring her in the face, constantly reminding her of the past. She was constantly being weighed down by her mother's neglect in telling her about her powers, along with her own guilt about not doing more to protect those she loved, or at least dying along with them. The only thing questions that constantly rang loud and clear in her mind was would this pain ever go away, would she ever wake up and not wished that she had died along with everyone else?

When Zuko said they had a long trip, he wasn't lying. It had taken them all day to get to their current location, and according to him it was still a little distance away until they actually reached the temple.

"We'll stay here for the night, and then head out first thing in the morning."

"Why not just continue, that way we won't have to wake up so early?" she really wasn't meaning to complain, but to her it just made more sense for them to get it over with now instead of having to wake up before the sun rises.

"Well for one it wouldn't do us any good tonight because I wouldn't want to approach them at night… we haven't had the best of relationships. Secondly you are bleeding out of your bandages and I don't need to worry about you getting hurt right now."

"Who the Hell asked you to worry?! Look Zuko, I'm trying really hard to not argue with you; but you're making it really difficult. Are you always this brooding or is it something that you reserve only for the brightest of times in your life." She snapped with sarcasm dripping from every word.

"You're right… you're right, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound cruel or to brood. It's just that I'm not looking forward to talking to the avatar."

"Why not… what happened between you two that you can't stand to be around each other?" taking her time, N'Dare sat on a log a few feet away from the fire Zuko had made. It was true, she was bleeding through her bandages, but for right now that could wait; there was a few things that she wanted answered before they did anything else and there was no way she was letting Zuko get off by saying he didn't want to answer, even if it meant that she had to tell him something just as personal in return.

"It's hard to explain…."

"We have all night and I'm all ears."

"You really won't let this go will you? Fine… I really don't know where to start…it's hard to ask someone to trust you when you have spent the last three years of your life hunting them down…" and over the course of an hour, Zuko had told her everything that had happened between him and the avatar. How he had tried on several occasions to capture the avatar so that he could regain his honor and his father's love. He didn't go into too many details about his banishment, only that he and his father had a disagreement, and in order for him to return home he had to capture the avatar.

"Wow… I couldn't imagine going through something like that. I can't even begin to think w what it must have been like for you to be sent away from everything and everyone you knew… it must have been hard."

It was the first time that someone who barely knew him, heard his tale and felt sympathy for him. Normally they would dismiss his obvious pain, claiming that it was just something that happens and then they would move on with their lives not even bothering to take a second thought as to how those events shaped this young man's life. The only person that truly knew or even cared how much his banishment affected him was his uncle Iroh… well maybe him and that water tribe girl that he spent time with in the Earth Kingdom prison.

"It doesn't matter anymore… all that matters is that I talk to the avatar and hopefully he'll let me help."

"Well I'm sorry to burst your bubble Zuko, but I doubt he'll listen to anything you have to say. I mean you did try to kill him and his friends on more than one occasion… be honest; would you listen to the guy that tried to fry you almost every chance he got?"

Zuko began to look at his hand rather than at her, he had thought about that more than once since he decided to help the avatar, at the moment everything seemed hopeless.

"Ugh… your right, why would he listen to me; I'm so stupid, this is never going to work!"

"Geez Zuko, I didn't mean to make you spaz out… calm down, everything will work itself out in the end"

"You're the one who just said that there was no way he would listen to me!"

"True… but maybe I'm wrong. I don't know this avatar guy, but it seems as though, at least from what you've said, he is a reasonable person, I bet all you would have to do is explain how much you've changed and I'm sure he'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

"I doubt it." Zuko mumbled before putting his face in his hands. Hearing N'Dare muffled grunts caused him to life his eyes in her direction. He had forgotten that he needed to change the bandages on her wound, walking to the war balloon; he began to rummage through the sacks that he brought along with him, until he found what he was looking for.

"We need to changes those again." Looking down N'Dare had to agree with him, the strips of fabric were stained all the way though with her blood and the tattered remains weren't really doing much to protect her injured side.

"Yeah I guess so…." She began to lift the tattered remnants of her gown away from her wound; but soon she got frustrated and decided to just rip it away from her body completely, there was no use in wearing it anymore. The once beautiful gown was destroyed; and wearing it now only reminded her of what was, so now all that was left was the top part with the midsection remove.

"Much better, now we have more bandages and less of an obstacle to get to the heart of the matter."

"Oookaayy." This girl left Zuko completely at a lost, he knew that she wasn't from any of the four nations; but still… she didn't hold anything back and always spoke her mind. Like before, neither one of them spoke while he cleaned and changed her wound.

"I was attacked…" her words shocked him into looking at her. "My home was attacked by monsters. It all happened so fast that we didn't really have a chance." It was a offer of trust, she was telling him, in no certain words, that she trusted in him enough to tell him how she got in the state she was in.

"I got this scare from my father… it was punishment for me speaking out of turn during a meeting he was holding with his generals."

"Your father did that to you?! Goddess Zuko, I had no idea, what kind of monster would do that to his son; simply for speaking out of turn?!"

He refused to answer that question, the pain of having his father permanently scare, and banish him, still left a shallow pain in his chest. Even after asking his father during their battle, how he could to that to him, he still had little comfort. His father had shown little to no concern about how his actions affected Zuko. N'Dare couldn't imagine a parent doing something so heinous to their child, she knew for a fact that her mother would never do anything to hurt her, at least not intentionally.

So why was she so upset that her mother hadn't been honest with her about her powers, why did she feel a slight touch of resentment towards the woman who had given her life to protect her? She was able to see Zuko in a new light now, when she first meet him, she simply thought that he was a withdrawn individual with a mood swing problem; but now she could actually see deeper than what lie on the surface and understand somewhat of where he was coming from. There was more to him then face value, he was hurting at the moment and all he wanted was to have his father's approving and acceptance.

"I'm going to bed, you should do the same. Tomorrow we'll head to the temple; hopefully the avatar will still be there." Watching Zuko get his things and lie down next to the fire, N'Dare felt so much sympathy for the young boy. Looking at the moon between the canopies of the trees, she began to contemplate her own situation.

The following morning, Zuko needed no help in waking up. He had barely gotten any sleep the night before because he was so nervous about his confrontation with the avatar.

"Wake up N'Dare…" slowly opening her eyes, N'Dare spotted Zuko standing just beyond her sleeping mat. It was funny how their positions had changed over night; just yesterday she was the one pouring cold water over his head.

"What, no wakeup call with ice water? You are no fun Zuko." She said with a sleepy giggle.

"I didn't want to scare you and cause you to hurt yourself."

"And such a gentleman to, I bet the girls go crazy for you." N'Dare said teasingly. After pulling herself up she began to gather her things so that they could leave soon. "So do you have one… a girlfriend I mean?"

"Umm…" Zuko started to blush furiously; he didn't know why he was so embarrassed by the question, he never had a problem talking about his relationship with Mai before; so now would be no different. "Yeah… her name's Mai."

"Ohh Zuko is a lady's man huh? I should have known; you have that bad boy quality that some girls can't seem to resist." The look on Zuko's face in combination with the extreme blush that he was sporting caused a massive laugh to erupt from the girl, so much so that it jibed her ribs.

"Oww!"

"So how about you, do you have a boyfriend?" the laughter in her eyes had suddenly dimmed, the moment had passed and realization had set back in.

"You ever notice how the most trivial thing enter your mind at the worst possible times? I guess I never really thought about it." looking at his confused expression she continued. "I never had a boyfriend. It seemed as though I always kept myself too preoccupied with other things to even entertain the idea of dating anyone, besides most guys were a little intimidated where I was concerned, since a majority of my uncles would have gave them the third degree if he even began to ask me out."

It really didn't take them that long to get to the temple, and what N'Dare saw completely blew her away. At home in Wakanda, she was used to seeing magnificent pieces of architecture; but this was beyond anything she had ever witnessed. They had landed the ship a few feet under the temple, and looking up she was able to see the temple that was hidden from view while they were airborne. The temple was built into the mountain, but not into the side, but under a cliff of the mountain like stalagmites. It would be hard to try and explain to anyone who didn't live in this world the defiance of gravity; but it would also be hard to explain people who could manipulate element by performing martial arts.

"It's beautiful…"

"Come on."

"We have to walk all the way up there?! Why didn't we just take the airship and fly up there?" N'Dare wasn't unused to physical activities, it was just that walking made her wound aggravated and she would be tired immediately following the trek.

"I don't want them to mistake us for one of the Fire Nation's ships… It would be a lot better if we just got there on foot."

The path to the temple was a rigorous one, but nothing worse than she had to do while she was training with Psylocke, N'Dare was able to recall several times that her pseudo aunt would come into her bed chamber before the crack of dawn and have her and Rachel doing laps around the entire city walls.

"How are you doing… do you need to stop?

I'm fine." She knew that her heavy breathing was a dead giveaway that she was exhausted; but she didn't want to waste anymore time by asking if they could take a break; she would rest later. Zuko's mind was running a mile a minute; the day had finally come, the day that he would confront the avatar not as an enemy but a potential ally. He also remembered coming here with his uncle Iroh when he first was banished, only then he was searching the temple for any sign of the avatar, now he had returned with the knowledge that the avatar was in fact there.

What would he have done for this information years ago is a question he would never have answered. As they drew closer to the summit leading to the Western Air Temple, they were able to pick up the sound of talking. Immediately Zuko was able to distinguish the voice of the girl that he was trapped within the Earth Kingdom prison. The other two voices were a little foreign to him; but he knew that the water Tribe girl… what was her name again… Katara… had a brother and the other voice must belong to the earthbender that was training the avatar. N'Dare choose not to say a word to alert the group they were approaching, since Zuko mentioned his plans to go to the Western Temple he had been extremely anxious about meeting this very same group, and she would not be responsible for any misunderstandings.

"So what should we do now? The invasion plan was a complete disaster and almost everyone was captured by the Fire Nation." That was the voice that belonged to the waterbender, Katara.

"I know… I still don't understand how Azula figured out the day we were going to attack. I had everything planned down to the last detail and still she was one step ahead!"

"Don't beat yourself up about it Sokka, she probably found out when they posed as the Kiyoshi warriors. And we did everything we could to save everybody, it was just impossible to put everyone on Appa."

"Toph's right, there was no way we could have taken everyone out; we just have to come up with another plan."

Zuko had stopped a distance away from the group with N'Dare directly behind him. She looked at the group talk about their attack against the Fire Nation and was slightly surprised, this were kids no older than her… they couldn't have been the ones that led that massive attack against the Fire Nation. Well who was she to say something like that, she knew better than to underestimate someone simply by their age, look at her and Rachel for instance; they were at a level in their fighting skills that they would have left any seasoned battalion obliterated.

She continued to watch the girl dressed in blue try to convince the boy in blue that there was nothing more that could have been done. She also watched the other girl, who was slightly younger, tease the same boy. She then noticed that there was another boy, slightly younger than her sixteen years of age, with a arrow tattooed on his arms and bald head, with eyes a silver as her own, a little distance away from the others, he wasn't saying anything; it almost looked as though he was not paying attention to what the others were saying. He seemed sad, almost depressed, as he placed his chin on top of his arms while he held his legs close to his body, with a small creature that N'Dare couldn't name even if she tried, it looked like a rabbit with its long ears; but it had a body of a small monkey.

"It's all my fault… I was supposed to end the war, and all I managed to do was get everyone captured. I'm the avatar; it's my job to bring balance to the world, not yours. Next time I'll go on my own, that way no one else will get hurt."

He was the avatar?! This young boy was the person that Zuko was looking for and who the Fire Nation was hunting? N'Dare knew not to judge him by his age, but this was a little intense, this boy held the responsibility of bringing peace to a war torn world on his shoulders and he was barely over the age of 14. That was a huge responsibility, and power from what she had been told, for anyone to handle, let alone a child, she couldn't image what he must be going through.

"But Aang, we all agreed to help…"

"I don't want you are anyone else getting hurt!"

"We understand that you want to keep everyone safe Aang, but your forgetting one thing, we want to keep you safe. You're the last hope the world has… and you mean a lot to us… some more than others."

"I know… it's just that… what if something happens again? What if next time we attack one of you guys gets captured, or worse; killed? I don't know what I would do if that happened. Besides I don't even know how to fire bend yet and I have no way of finding a teacher."

"What about Jon Jon? He can teach you." Sokka said thinking that he had solved their problems.

"Who knows when I'll see Jon Jon again, besides last time he didn't seem like he really wanted to train me."

"Who's… never mind I guess I'll find out later." Toph said.

"This is serious you guy's, Aang needs a firebending teacher." Katara said, always to observant one.

"I can help with that." Zuko spoke, having grown tired of simply standing back and deciding on rather or not to approach them.

"Zuko!" the grouped yelled, Katara summoned the water out of the pouches around her waist, while Toph bended a large boulder in front of her waiting to send it hurling towards their enemy. Sokka had withdrawn his sword and Aang fell into a defensive position, waiting for Zuko to attack.

The tension in the area had risen to such a high degree in such a short time that N'Dare barely registered what had happened; Zuko wasn't lying when he said that these people didn't trust him. For a long time no one said anything, they all just stood there waiting for the other to make move.

"What are you doing here Zuko?" Katara asked with venom tripping from every word. She hadn't forgotten how he had betrayed them in Ba Sing Se.

"I've come to help the avatar… I mean Aang."

"Yea right, like we're going to believe that." Sokka said.

"Please… just give me a chance to explain. I know I tried to capture you in the past, and I know it was stupid to send that Fire Nation assassin after you; but I've changed!"

"You sent Combustion-Man after us?!" Sokka yelled.

"Well that's not his name but…"

"You see I told you he couldn't be trusted." Katara hissed.

"He's telling the truth… at least as far as my feet can tell." Toph informed them.

"You will never change Zuko, we trusted you once and you betrayed us, we'll never trust you!" Katara's anger over everything that had happened recently added to the anger that she always felt towards Zuko; caused her to lose her temper and send a powerful blast of water aimed directly at Zuko.

"What are you doing?!" During the entire time N'Dare had remained quiet, she thought it was best to let Zuko handle things; since he had experience with these people, but now all that was out the window. She was not about to stand there and just let them attack Zuko while he tried to make amends, and her wounds be damned.

"Who are you, another one of Zuko's little lackeys?" questioned Katara.

"No, my name is N'Dare. We mean you no harm, Zuko honestly just wants to help."

"You must not know Zuko very well do you? He doesn't want to help anyone but himself; he has been hunting Aang for months." Sokka eyed the girl warily. There was something about her appearance that was familiar to him.

"You're right, I don't know him that well; but I know him enough to believe that he genuinely wants to help the avatar."

"Ha… what kind of lies has Zuko told you that actually make you believe that he is a good person, you would have to be crazy to trust him?" Katara said.

"Well you can consider me crazy cause I believe him." N'Dare stated firmly.

Zuko looked at her surprised. She believed him? She barely even knew him and she would trust him without a second thought, even though there were people who was telling her that she would have to but nuts to believe him. Brining his eyes from N'Dare, he looked at Aang.

"What about you, do you think that I'm lying to? You said once that if things were different we could be friends."

Aang only stared at him, he remembered the day that he found out that Zuko was actually the Blue Spirit and had rescued him from General Zhao. He also remembered waiting for Zuko to wake up, and when he did he asked him if things were different if they could be friends, and he remembered all too well his response. Zuko had proven time and time again that he couldn't really be trusted, and Aang was in no mood to give him another chance to hurt him or anyone of his friends.

"No… I don't trust you, and I would never have you as a teacher."

That was it; all his hopes at redemption were over. The avatar would not take his help and would never trust him. What did he really expect though? That they would all just welcome him with open arms into their little group, and all that bad blood between them would just be washed away? He was a fool for coming here or for believing that a few words would erase all his past evil deeds.

N'Dare looked between Zuko and the young boy that she discovered was the avatar, the younger boy's eyes were hard as stone as he stared down at Zuko. She had hoped that she had been wrong when she said that they wouldn't listen to a word he said; but she didn't hold her breath on that hope. Things couldn't end like this though, they had come too far and Zuko had sacrificed too much to let it all be for nothing.

"So that's it, he apologizes and offers to help you and you turn him away without a second thought? You were right when you said that I didn't know Zuko, and since I don't know him I can't judge him on actions that I wasn't around to witness. I have no idea what crimes he has committed against you; all I can assume is that they were serious. Which one of you is without sin? I do believe I can say that we have all made mistakes in the past that we wish we had an opportunity to make right, and how many of us can say that they were actually given a chance to do that. In his defense, the Zuko that I have come to know is very sorry for what he did in the past and all he wants is a chance to make amends for his sins." Her words floated over the entire group, and everyone was at a loss for words.

On one hand her words held some truth, there were many mistakes in all of their past that some of them they wished they could change, but on the other hand there was the fact that Zuko had always proved their suspicions right, that he was not to be trusted. Zuko was beyond shocked, she was defending him to all these people without know anything about him save his name. Looking at the others though he could see that her words were falling on deaf ears, no matter how true her words were it still didn't outweigh the things that he had done, lifting himself off the ground he walked towards N'Dare.

"Let's go…" he then turned to Aang. "I can understand why you don't trust me; but I just wanted you to know that I really did want to help. My father is a monster and he will stop at nothing until all four nations are under his rule." With those words Zuko made his way to the trail leading down the mountain and back to their camp site.

"But…" sighing, N'Dare watched as Zuko disappeared from sight. "You know, for some reason I thought you would have been a little more open minded to his apology, being the avatar and all about balance. He may have been a jerk in the past; but anyone can change if they really want to, you should think about that." Soon N'Dare was following in Zuko's path heading away from the temple and the people that they had traveled so far to meet.

The Gaang simply watched as the strange girl disappeared down the mountain. No one said anything for a few minutes; all of them were trying to absorb what had just happened.

"Can you believe him?! I mean what does he take us for, idiots? Like we would trust him after all he did." Katara said fuming with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I know, and what about that strange girl, where do you think she's from?" Sokka asked.

"Well I don't know where she was from but I do know one thing…. She was telling the truth, both of them actually." Katara and Sokka both looked at Toph like she just said that she was an armadillo-bear.

"Well maybe she's just lying for him." Aang offered.

"Whatever twinkly toes, but my feet said she was telling the truth."

"It doesn't matter, Zuko can't be trusted, and he has shown us that more times than I can count."

"Finally we agree on something Sokka, we can't trust him." Katara said. Toph jumped down from the broken pillar that she had sat on, annoyed.

"I'm I the only one here who sees how stupid this is? Look, Aang needs a firebending teacher, and when one walks up out of nowhere and offers to teach him, you guys chase him away, he may not have been the best choice but he was the only choice we had. He could have been Aang's last chance to learn firebending, I'm blind and even I can see that."

"I won't have Zuko as my teacher."

Toph threw her hands up in frustrations, no matter what she said; it wouldn't change any of their minds so it was pointless to even try.

When N'Dare made it back to camp, Zuko was pacing back and forth.

"Why did I even tell them that I sent an assassin after them, that was so stupid?! I could have said Azula did that, they would have believed that." He pressed his fist to his forehead in frustration.

"Well lying to them wouldn't have helped your case."

Zuko turned to her surprised; he had forgotten that she was even there.

"I don't even know why I even bothered. You were right; I should have known that they wouldn't have listened to me."

"You tried because you wanted to make up for your past. Don't beat yourself up over this Zuko, these things happen and no matter how hard you want it to be different, you can't change the minds of other, you can only accept it and move on." She said, while she took a seat on a nearby log. Zuko sat down next to her on the log and stared at his laced fingers. Why couldn't things have been different? He knew the answer to that question, and he had no one to blame but himself.

"I guess you're right… I'm going take a walk."

N'Dare watch as Zuko left the camp site once again. She could see in his eyes that the outcome of their meeting with the avatar and his friends left him more than upset, his guilt was eating him up inside. There must have been something that she could do to help him, after all he and his uncle had saved her from that prison. The avatar and his friends just didn't understand that Zuko was actually a good person and that he had changed, well maybe if she told them about everything that he had done for her, and then they would see that he wasn't all that bad. It took her longer this time around to make it to the summit leading to the air temple because she had taken the wrong path several times, and by the time she got there she was exhausted. Toph was the first to notice her approach.

"We got company."

"What are you doing back here, oh let me guess, to tell us that Zuko isn't as bad as we make him seem and that he really wants to help." Katara sarcastically asked. N'Dare was really getting tired of this girl's attitude.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I won't paint some kind of impossible picture to make you understand that Zuko isn't the same person he once was, but I will tell you what I know."

"Well maybe we don't want to listen to what you have to say."

"My god, are you always this abrasive when you meet people? It's no wonder that he tried to take you down, you leave people with little room to do anything else."

"Are you threatening me?!"

"Take it how you wish, but your attitude really sucks."

Sokka thought that right now would be a great time to break up this little cat fight.

"Maybe we should just hear her out Katara, what could it hurt?" Katara relaxed in Sokka's grip, and stared at the other girl heatedly.

"Fine… but don't blame me when she tries to kill us."

N'Dare rolled her eyes; this would be harder than she originally thought."I told you before; I don't want to hurt any of you, all I'm asking is that you listen. I know you guys really don't believe that Zuko has changed, so I'm hoping that you'll believe me when I say that as long as I have been with him, he has not shown one ounce of hatred. When I met him I was a prisoner in a Fire Nation jail, his uncle Iroh took care of me as best he could, considering the circumstances."

"Did he tell you that Zuko was the reason that he was in prison in the first place?" Katara asked.

"I think he may have mentioned it, but I was in and out of consciousness. All I know is, that the day of the invasion, Zuko had planned to break his uncle out, saying that he was sorry for all that he had done. He begged for his uncle's forgiveness, and the emotions that I witness were genuine."

Over the course of the day N'Dare pleaded Zuko's case for him, and on more than one occasion she wanted to give up. Katara was adamant about not trusting Zuko, the only person that seemed remotely capable of giving him another chance was the young blind girl named Toph. Sokka on the other hand was suspicious about why Zuko would want to help, but he wasn't unreasonable. Out of all of them, Aang remained quiet, he made no argument while N'Dare spoke, and he simply took everything in while this foreign girl tried to convince him and his friends to accept Zuko's help.

"Well why should we trust you? We know nothing about you other than your name. What nation are you from?" N'Dare could get mad at Katara for asking that question, honestly she was surprised that the question wasn't asked the moment she stepped foot in front of them. Even though she knew the question would be asked, she still wasn't prepared to answer it.

"That's a difficult question to answer, so I won't even try. I know I'm asking you to take a lot on faith right now, not only concerning Zuko; but also myself. Just trust me when I say that it would be best that we save that question for a later time."

Zuko had been walking for hours, trying to figure out where he would go from here. There was no way that he could go back home, his father most likely declared him a traitor and ordered for him to be killed on sight. He had no clue as to where his uncle Iroh was, so trying to meet up with him would be a wasted effort. It seemed that his only option was to go back into exile; he wasn't too keen on having to run from both the Fire Nation and any other nation that was still free from the Fire Nation's colonizing.

This time would be harder though, this time he would have to live with the fact that he was not sent away; but choose to walk away from his home, his kingdom, and worst of all Mai. He had no idea what he would do when they meet up again. The note that he left for her was a poor excuse of a goodbye, and he knew that she would be furious with him. He also had another complication with living on the run, his uncle had asked him to watch after N'Dare, and he had promised that he would. It wasn't only because his uncle had asked him to do it; he also found that he was beginning to enjoy her company. At first he really didn't like her because all they seemed to do was argue, but after last night and what had happened hours ago, he began to warm up to her, no pun intended.

Sighing heavily, he decided to make his way back to camp. He would have to tell her that they would be leaving soon and that he had no clue as to where they were going. He was a good distance from where he had left her, and when he finally made it back, he arrived at an empty clearing.

"Where is she?" Zuko asked out loud, know that he wouldn't get an answer. But the question still remained, where was she? It wasn't like she knew the area enough to simply walk away, and with her injury he doubted that she went take a leisurely walk.

"She wouldn't…" the idea came to him at the speed of a punch, if N'Dare wasn't to the camp ground, then the only other place she would be is back at the temple. But why would she go back there? Certainly not to convince them to take his help, she wouldn't be that stupid, that stubborn… who was he kidding? He knew her well enough to know that was her personality right down to the last statement. Zuko ran in the direction of the temple, N'Dare didn't know what she was getting herself into. She was going up against two well trained benders and the avatar; he didn't know what they would do to her since she was connected to him. While he was half way up the mountain, something on a nearby cliff caught his attention. It was the assassin that he had hired to capture the avatar, but how did he find them so fast?

"Well that was a dumb question, you hired him because he was the best tracker in all the nations" Zuko thought to himself.

It didn't seem as though anyone had noticed that the dangerous man was even there. He didn't have time to warn them and stop the assassin, so he made up his mind and head in the direction of the older man. He knew that he probably wouldn't be able to fight the guy head on; but he hoped that he could maybe reason with or try and bribe him to leave the avatar alone.

Zuko ran at top speed, praying that he wouldn't be too late to stop the man in time. As he drew closer he could see the man taking aim at the center of the temple, he was aiming directly at the avatar and his friends, and N'Dare was there as well. Just as the man was preparing to unleash his special brand of firebending, Zuko charged at him, throwing off his aim.

Back at the temple N'Dare was still trying desperately to get the others to trust Zuko. She had them all but convinced, all that is except Katara. There was something more to her hatred of Zuko than she was letting on, and N'Dare wasn't sure if she would ever truly trust the boy; but she was at least willing to listen for the time being.

Everything was going decently, that is until N'Dare felt something change. I was a felling that she had never experienced before, it was almost as if a small voice was whispering in her ear, telling her that something foreign was passing in the air around her. That didn't make any sense, was she going crazy? Without warning an explosion sounded less than five feet from her, sending debris and water cascading over everyone around. The blast caused her to fly across the room and land on her side, sending a blinding pain through her. Lifting herself from the floor, she looked to make sure that everyone else was okay.

"Wait…stop, I don't want you hunting the avatar anymore." That voice... that was Zuko, looking up; her silent question was answered when her eyes fell on Zuko trying desperately to dissuade a rather large man from attacking them again.

"I'll pay you double for you to stop and forget that you ever found us." The man was no longer paying attention, which was one of the reasons that Zuko chose him to hunt down the avatar, because he knew that the man would never stop until his target was taken.

"I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you don't stop." Zuko knew that his threat was basically a bluff, but he had to do something to get the man's attention off of the other until they had a chance to get away.

"Did he just say what I think he did?" Sokka asked helping Toph off of the ground.

"I think he did." Aang responded. Combustion-Man used his superior strength to push Zuko away so that he could have another clear shot at his target. With no more interruptions, Combustion-Man took aim again, this time determined not to miss; but while Zuko had him distracted it gave Katara time to act. Running towards the fountain resting in the center of the temple, Katara waterbended the water causing it to create a massive wave heading directly towards the assassin, and at the last minute she froze the water and sent shards of sharp razor like ice hurdling at him.

Combustion-Man managed to dodge the attack, Zuko got back on his feet and soon he and the assassin continued to fight one another. Combustion-man sent a focus shot of firebending aimed at Zuko, who only had a split second to try and counter the ferocious attack by sending a barrier of fire between him and the 'fire bullet'. The force of the attack was more powerful than Zuko was capable of keeping at bay; it sent him flying over the edge of the cliff and seemingly to his death.

"Nooo!" N'Dare yelled.

This couldn't be happening agian, Zuko couldn't be dead. This was the attack on Wakanda all over, innocent people were getting hurt and there was nothing that she could do. She hadn't known Zuko long; but she didn't want to lose him, at this point he was her only friend. The pain and loss started to gnaw at her heart, she wouldn't allow anyone else to get. Almost on its own, her hand lifted itself from her side and was directed toward the man that was bringing this new pain into her world.

A power began to course though her and it felt as natural as breathing, it was almost as if an old friend had been returned to her and that joy left her beyond comprehension. The silver of her eyes began to slowly fade away and all that was left were milky pools. Her vision began to change, she no longer saw the world as she once did, and all that was left were colorful patterns of energy.

She was not only able to see the colorful energy patterns; but was also able to feel them, she soon realized that those patterns were actually the winds themselves. It was amazing, all the sensations she were feeling lift her in awe, could this have been the power that her mother told her they shared? If that was true, than she should have been able to affect those same patterns, reaching out with her mind, she felt the winds react to her touch.

She was at a loss to what she was to do next; but instincts would guide her from that point. Her thoughts screamed for some way to end this before someone else got hurt, and soon her thoughts became action as her powers did as bid. The air around Combustion-Man began to swirl until a micro cyclone had formed around him causing a vacuum that sucked the air straight from his lungs.

The Gaang was shocked, they were being attacked by the same assassin that Sokka originally decided to call 'Sparky Sparky Boom Man', Zuko was trying to save their live and was knocked off of a cliff, and the strange girl named N'Dare, who was trying to convince them that Zuko was not all that bad, had managed to do something that they thought that only Aang could do, she had bent the air around her.

No one was more surprised at what the girl was doing than Aang, for so long he had thought that he was the last airbender left. Now here was a girl whose appearance into their lives was just as mysterious as her origins. This was unlike any airbending her had ever seen, she didn't need to use any kind of fighting stance, all she did was throw her hand in front of her; but it didn't matter, now he was no longer alone as an airbender.

The stress from using powers that she had, up until that time, didn't know existed, caused N'Dare to grow weak. She really didn't even know what she was doing, let alone how long she could keep it up. Soon the stress and pain from her ribs won out and she felt her control slipping and her vision began to go dark. Then all at once the cyclone that had formed around Combustion-Man disappeared, right along with N'Dare's consciousness.

Snapping out of his distant state, Aang seen the assassin catch his breath and prepared himself to deliver the final blow to everyone involved in his pain. Without thinking Aang ran to the unconscious girl who lye bleeding on the ground a few feet away, he had just found another airbender and he was about to let her die by some maniac with a vendetta. He carried the girl behind a large pillar where the others were hiding.

Things began to look bad for the Gaang; Combustion-Man's attacks were relentless. Every few seconds a new explosion would rock the temple and cause pieces of the ceiling to come crumbling down on their heads. Soon an idea struck Sokka, if he could pinpoint the positions by finding the trajectory of the attacks, then he could use his boomerang to try and knock the guy out, at least until the escaped. Once he found the path that he thought that the attacks were coming from, he removed his boomerang from its casing on his back and gave it a kiss for good luck.

"Good luck boomerang." With that he sent his most prized possession on its most important mission.

He would kill them all, who cared what the Fire Nation prince had paid him to do, these little kids had been a thorn in his side for the past few weeks. Every time he would get close to taking out the avatar, he and his friends would find a way to escape; but not this time. That one girl though was different, to his understanding the avatar was the only airbender left, but that weird girl had managed to bend the air around him and take the air from his lungs without even doing any real type of bending. Combustion-Man was so caught up in his thought he didn't notice the metallic object headed directly towards him until it was too late. After colliding with his forehead the boomerang made its way back towards the pillar and once it got close enough Sokka rushed from behind the pillar to catch it before it passed him.

"Yeah, boomerang!" Combustion-Man grabbed his head in slight pain, before he regained his sight and stared below him. "Aww boomerang…" Sokka headed back behind the pillar to take cover, upset that his boomerang had done the job of taking out the big man.

Focusing his chi, the assassin prepared to end the lives of every single person in that temple, but something backfired. His firebending wasn't working right, sparks of fire popped around his head, instead of heading towards the temple in a focused beam of energy. He wasn't able to stop the effects of his bending, and all to suddenly his powers turned in upon their master and caused a massive explosion causing the platform that he was standing on to break away from the rest of the mountain, sending Combustion-Man into oblivion.

"Is it over?" Toph asked after the explosions ended. Everyone waited to see if the attack would start over again, and once nothing happened, Sokka peaked from behind the pillar. When he didn't see the assassin he drew a sigh of relief, everything was fine now.

"Hey… there's Zuko, he's alive." He informed the others.

"Hurray…" Katara murmured. After pulling himself over the edge of the cliff, Zuko made his way to the half destroyed temple, and when he got there he was relieved to see that the avatar and his friends were not hurt. That is until his eyes feel of the prone body of N'Dare lying in Aang's lap.

"What happened?"

"We don't know… one minute she was airbending and the next she just passed out." Sokka told him.

"What… she can airbend?"

"I take it you didn't know she could do that either huh." Toph remarked.

"We don't have time to make jokes, I think she's really hurt." Aang said, worry permeating through his every word. He then noticed that his legs, where the girl was lying, were wet. It was then that he and everyone else noticed the wound on her side was bleeding immensely.

"She's bleeding really bad you guys." He told the others.

"She was hurt since before we got here." Zuko said, he knew how much it took him to get out of her why she was bleeding, so he didn't think she would like it if he told everyone else what had happened to her.

"Katara… do you think you could heal her?"

"I don't know Aang. Her wounds look very serious… maybe if I had water from the spring in the Southern Water Tribe, but I'll try." Passing her hands over the top of her water bag, Katara bended the water to coat her hands in a glowing sheen, passing her hands over the wound, she watched as the cut began to slowly heal. The cut didn't disappear completely, but it was enough to stop the bleeding.

"What now?" Zuko asked with a little bit of anxiety creeping in his voice.

"We wait… I've never healed a wound like that before, well other than the one Aang got back in Ba Sing Se; but at least then I had the spring water."

"Is there a place that I can put her to rest?" Zuko asked as he made his way over to Aang, and slowly removing the girl from his arms. At first Aang wanted to resist giving the girl up, she was his only connection to his past and he felt like Zuko was a threat to that connection. Soon he decided that he had no reason to protest, Zuko had known the girl longer than he did.

"Yeah, we can put her in the temple." Zuko followed behind Aang as he lead the way further into the temple, this wasn't how he wanted to be brought before his ex- enemies, but right now he needed their help to make sure that N'Dare made it through this alright.

To be continued…

A/N: Yeah… I finished another chapter!  Also Gustav didn't destroy my home, isn't it great? Oh a few more notes here, I know there were several things in this chapter that wasn't considered canon, but if you do remember in the beginning, I told you that I might diverge a little. For instance is said somewhere in her that Aang was barely over the age of fourteen, when in the show he is only twelve biologically. I did this so that I wouldn't have to worry about any adult situations that might arise in the future that would conflict with the rational of a twelve year old. Also if you would notice that is didn't add any of the other survivors of the invasion plan into this story, I thought that it would be too difficult to do background and character development on so many people in a relatively shot chapter, and besides the show's writers didn't feel like it was important enough since the pretty much neglected them in the episode that I based the chapter off of. I thought that I would finally end some of your misery by giving a slight hint as to the nature of N'Dare's abilities, though trust me when I tell you that I am far from over explaining how she will develop. Things will start to heat up in the next couple of chapters, and friendships will be formed. I would like to apologize to any Katara fans, I know I made her seem more, forgive my language, bitchy; but her character on the show is really no different from my opinion. Oh and how did you like Aang reaction to another airbender, was it good or do you think I could have done something a little better? Oh well, I guess I'll simply wait for the review for any comments or complaints that anyone will have regarding this chapter. Until next time people, live long and prosper. Dammit it, my ADD won't let me leave the chapter with only 9,997 words, I have to either go to 10,000 or over, now I'm done.


	10. Reality Check

**Of Mutants and Benders**

**By: Orionstorm04**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men I only own the original idea and my OC's. Please read and review, hope you enjoy._

A/N: Again, a wonderful thank you goes out to all the people who have read and reviewed this story, thus far. I have been keeping track with my readers traffic feature, and I must say that sometimes it boggles my mind, how so many people can view a story, and only a handful review. I'm not asking you to give me your social security number or anything people, just an acknowledgement that you are enjoying or not enjoying this piece. Beyond that, I won't complain. Things have been somewhat dicey for me over the last few weeks, so that has been the cause for my extensive absence. Also I have a surprise, or should I say initiative for you. Once this chapter is posted, the first person to leave a review will get a glimpse into a future chapter. Not just a break down, oh no, so much more than that. The lucky winner will not only get an insight about what is to happen next, but they will also be the first to see one of the many arts that I have commissioned for this story, I can promise, you won't be disappointed. Also, I am requesting that all who are truly interested in how this story plays out, to pm me. I have a little notification to let you guys in on, and I would like to get your insight on something before I post it here on this story. Now without further ado, the story continues.

Reality Check

The world has always been separated into two main factors, facts and the unknowns. For instance, it was a fact that no one sitting in this room really trusted Zuko as far as they could throw him. The Gaang had been left as the odd man out one too many times to think that it was funny, and right now Zuko did nothing but heighten that notion. Now on the other hand, there were unknowns. It was unknown to anyone, including Zuko, how could a stranger that none of them had any clue as to who she was or where she had come from, air bend?

Zuko continued to follow Aang to the room where he could put N'Dare to rest, and all the while, Katara kept a watchful eye on their one time enemy. She couldn't understand how everyone could just forget the last couple of months that Zuko had continuously hunted them down. She knew this all had to be some kind of a trap, Zuko may have been able to fool everyone else here, but he couldn't fool her. He wasn't kind, or caring, or any of those things that he was pretending to be, and for him to try and make them think that he was remorseful for his action, had to be a complete lie. Though, the one hitch in her logic was the way that he carried the girl into the temple. He was careful not to jolt her, or bump her into the walls. He took great care into making sure that when he laid her down on the bed, that her head was supported and that she was covered with a blanket.

This all had to be some elaborate ruse, which he was trying to get everyone to believe. And the moment that he lured them all into a false sense of security, he, and maybe even the girl that he claimed he didn't know, would spring some kind of attack on them. Though it was true, the girl didn't look like anyone she had ever seen from the Fire Nation, that didn't mean that she wasn't helping him, besides it wouldn't be the first time that Zuko enlisted the aid of someone outside the Fire Nation. He had fooled them before, mostly her, but not this time though. Katara wouldn't let Zuko have the upper hand this time, no matter what he told the others, she wouldn't let him hurt her friends anymore.

"You really think that you have everyone around here fooled don't you?" Katara asked, once Aang had left the room, and all that remained was Zuko, and the strange girl. Hearing her voice, Zuko turned to see the Water Tribe girl standing with the arm crossed over her chest, and a deadly serious look in her eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He answered dismissively, as he turned back to make sure that his companion was settled. Double checking her wounds, he found that the healing Katara had done was working.

"Please, your little sob story and your act may work on the others, but it won't work on me. Remember Zuko, I know what type of person you really are, and this is not you." She said as she began to come further into the room.

"And how do you know who I am? You don't know anything about me!" he said without looking back, though he noticed that she was closer than she was before.

"I know enough. I know that you would lie and manipulate anyone to get what you want, even going as far to claim that you lost your mother to this war."

At the mention of his mother, Zuko's anger flared. She had no right to bring his mother into this. Who was she to claim what he had and had not lost? She didn't know what it meant to be constantly remained that your own father thought you was beneath the dirt on his shoes. Or to have a sister, who would kill you, just as fast as she would look at you. And beyond all of that, to have been told for years that your own mother was dead, then to find out that she wasn't dead, but banished by her own husband. So again, what right did this girl have to assume things she knew nothing about? Slowly rising from the bed, Zuko turned to meet eyes with the girl who had went beyond insulting.

"You don't know what you're talking about, so I suggest you stop talking." He said lowly.

"You may have been able to beat me before Zuko, but I'm a lot stronger now." With those words, Katara dipped into a defensive position, with her hands slightly hovering over her water pouches.

Sighing, Zuko sat back down on the bed. "I'm not going to fight you, that's not why I'm here."

"Oh yeah, that's right, you just want to help. What could you possibly gain by helping us? All this time, you've been hunting Aang, and now all of the sudden you want to help him? Please… what could have changed that now you want to be on the side of good?" She asked stoically.

"Because I now see that this is the side of good. Before, I thought I was doing what was best for my country, my people, but now I see that the world isn't better with the Fire Nation in control, its worst."

This had to be a sick joke. Zuko didn't care what happened to people. He didn't care about anyone but himself. Now he wants to start pretending that all along he was trying to do the right thing? Soon images of the brief time that she spent with Zuko in the Earth Kingdom prison began to penetrate her mind. During those few minutes before Iroh and Aang had come in, Zuko seemed like a much different person. Or maybe that's what it was all along, he actually seemed like a person, not some deranged lunatic on a manhunt to destroy the last hope the world had at achieving piece. Snapping her resolve back into submission, Katara shook the false memories from her brain. She remembered what happened the last time she decided to trust Zuko, he betrayed her and nearly killed Aang, she wouldn't let him do it again.

"You always talk about honor, and how you lost it and the only way to get it back was to capture the avatar. You were always afraid that your past would mess up your future, but I can say, right here, right now, that if you make any false move, if you try to hurt Aang in anyway, you won't have to worry about reclaiming your honor or you future anymore, cause I'll make sure you future ends right there." She told him in a menacing voice, before she left Zuko with that thought.

As he watched Katara leave the room, Zuko couldn't help but notice the change in the girl. She seemed more harden and threatening than she once did, but war tended to do that to people. Though he couldn't blame her for her harsh words, what he did in Ba Sing Se was completely unforgivable. In that moment, she had trusted him, told him secrets that he probably had no right to hear. And what did he do in the end? He betrayed that trust, and helped nearly kill one of her best friends.

He deserved everything that she and her group gave him. He just had to come up with some way to make them understand that he wasn't the same person. But how could he do that, how could he show them that he had changed? Hearing the soft moan behind him, he looked, and saw N'Dare shift in her bed, and roll over unto her once injured side, without so much of a hiss in pain, that was a good sign that she would be okay. With a soft smile on his face, he sat back down beside her. Maybe the answer that he was looking for was in his face, since the moment he met her.

Aang was setting in the courtyard with Sokka and Toph, listening to the two yell at each other over who would get the last piece of seal jerky, when Katara came stomping out of the temple. He didn't need to ask what her problem was; he and everyone out here knew that Katara was beyond furious when it came to him letting Zuko and the girl stay. He didn't let Zuko stay because he trusted him; he let Zuko stay because he wanted to get to know more about this new air bender.

After showing Zuko the room, he really didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay in the room until the girl woke up, and everyone could see that it was killing him to wait outside until she woke up. Toph had told him more times than he could count, that if he didn't stop tapping his feet and messing with her 'sight' that she would break ever toe on his foot. He just couldn't help it though, the excitement was eating him up inside, and the more time passed, the more he wanted to bolt back into the temple and check to see if she had woken up. Now he wasn't the only slightly irritated person out here, Katara would pace out here until she wore a hole in the floor.

"What's your problem princess?" Toph asked as she downed the last piece of seal jerky, as she smiled at Sokka, who was bound in rocks.

"I can't believe your all sitting out here like we don't have an assassin on our hands. Unless you've all forgotten, the guy who's been trying to kill Aang is in the next room!" she fumed.

"We haven't forgotten…uhnn… who's….uhnn… in… the next… room…" Sokka said as he struggled to get free of his prison, and without warning, Toph bent the rocks to crumble, making Sokka fall flat on his face.

"Yeah Katara… were not letting Zuko fool us again." Aang said from across the room.

"Really Aang… or are you just interested in that new air bender?!" she fired back.

Everyone looked at Katara slightly thrown off. She had always had somewhat of a slight temper, but she would never have one where Aang was concerned. And to at least two of the people there, the way she asked that question, almost made her seem jealous. After a few seconds of looking at no one in particular, Katara's eyes finally settled on Aang's and the look she saw in them immediately made she regret her words. She knew how much this would mean to Aang to have some proof that his people weren't completely killed off a hundred years ago.

"A-Aang… I-I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was…"

"It doesn't matter Katara, I understand… I'm going to go get some fresh air; I'll see you guys latter." Collecting his glider, Aang made his way to the balcony of the temple, and leaped off into the air.

Katara watched, more than slightly upset with herself for letting her anger at Zuko affect her like this. She didn't mean to sound mean to Aang, but know that the person who wants to hurt him the most was only a few feet away, made her nervous. She didn't know what she would do if something had happened to Aang. The day had carried on, pretty much uneventful after that moment. Aang was gone for several hours, and when he finally made it back, it was already nightfall. The group didn't have their normally cheery dinner that night, Aang and Katara barely said a word the whole time, which meant that most of the time consisted of Sokka telling his normally bad jokes. During the entire night, Zuko hadn't step one foot outside the temple, Toph had volunteered to bring him some food, but he said that he wouldn't eat until N'Dare had woken up.

At some point, when everyone was asleep, Aang snuck into the temple and over to the room where the mysterious girl was. When he made it to the room, he was careful with the door, as to not wake Zuko, if he was sleeping at all. Poking his head inside, Aang spotted Zuko in the far corner, away from the girl's bed. Tiptoeing inside the room, he stealthily made his way over to the sleeping form of the person that had been plaguing his thoughts all day. When he was close enough, he looked down into the girl's face, and then over his shoulder to make sure that Zuko was still asleep. Comfortable that Zuko was still asleep, Aang decided to get a closer look at the unconscious girl. She really didn't look like anyone form the other nations that he had ever seen, and that was saying a lot, with him being the avatar.

Her hair set her apart from pretty much anyone that he would come across, the only other person that he had ever seen with hair that color was Yue, but that was where the similarities stopped. While looking at the girl in front of him, Aang began to wonder what this would mean for him. He wouldn't be alone anymore, he wouldn't be the last link to a once proud people, and the art of air bending wouldn't die with him, if that's what it came to defeating the Fire Lord. So engrossed in his internal thoughts, he didn't notice that the person inspiring these thought in him had began to stir. N'Dare began to awaken, and when her heavy silver eyes finally achieved some type of focus, the first thing she saw was a pair of eyes that mimicked her own. Her brain wasn't fully functional, she had felt like she had ran a marathon, but she did manage to recognize who the person in front of her was.

"Hey there Q-Ball." She said halfway delirious.

"Q-Ball? That's not my name." Aang said confused. This girl must really be out of it, she was calling him strange names and she had this goofy grin on her face and laughing almost uncontrollably, almost how Sokka was when he drank that cactus juice. For a few moments she continued to ramble off names that Aang was sure he had never heard. And the worst part about all of it was that she didn't even seem to realize that she was doing it. At a few points she began to get louder and more irritated, and when she did, Aang turned to make sure Zuko was still asleep, then her constant laughing started to taper off into grief and pain filled sobs.

"I'm so sorry… I'm sorry that I couldn't keep you safe…" she was looking at Aang with unfocused eyes, it almost looked like she thought that he was someone else entirely, before she flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulders, while tears streamed from her eyes. "Please… please don't be mad at me anymore… please forgive me."

The pain in her unfocused eye was apparent, and it was an expression that he was all too familiar with. Her eyes mirrored the pain that he had once harbored; the pain that he felt from running away from his responsibilities still tore at his heart. He had run, when he was needed the most, and the consequences were more dire than he ever thought possible. He had lost everything in his world, and it looked as if she was suffering the same fate. Well he may have run then and lost everything, but he wouldn't do so now, he wouldn't let her suffer this alone, as he was glad the he had Katara and the others to help him through his pain. So he told her the words he thought that she wanted to hear.

"I'm not mad at you… I forgive you." And with Aang's soft words, N'Dare visibly relaxed, and her eyes were once again closed… she was sleeping again. He would have left the room at that point, but she had yet to let him go, locking him in a vice like embrace. He wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon, and truthfully he didn't mind. He would stay with her for the night, if only to reassure her that she wasn't alone and that someone was there with her.

The hours rolled on slowly that night, and after a few hours, N'Dare released Aang from her death grip. But even though he was set free, he still didn't leave the room. So it came as a complete surprise to Zuko to wake up and find Aang at the foot of N'Dare's bed, sleeping. At first he couldn't figure out why the boy was there, was he staying to keep an eye out on him, to make sure that this wasn't some kind of a trap? Zuko figured that everyone else's feelings were the same as Katara's, they didn't trust him, and most likely never would. Zuko decided then and there that something had to be done, they couldn't stay like this forever, he had to find some middle ground that they all could stand on. He walked over towards the bed, and stood in front of Aang. Sligltly kicking the younger boy on the foot, Zuko woke him up from his sleep.

"We need to talk." He said in a whisper, as to not wake up N'Dare. Aang whipped the sleep from his eyes, and stared up at Zuko. At first he wanted to ask Zuko what he was doing in his room, but soon remember where he was. He didn't mean to stay there this long, he wanted to be gone before either Zuko or N'Dare had woken up. Looking in the bed behind him, Aang peered over the blanket to see if the girl was up to, but his anticipation was deflated, she had still not waken up since last night. Sighing, Aang got up and followed Zuko out of the room. They walked pass the courtyard, where Katara, Sokka and Toph were all talking. Katara looked as though she wanted to apologize to Aang for her comment last night, but when she spotted Zuko she thought better of it.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" Sokka asked with his mouth full and shoving more food inside, while Toph finished off her bite of food and looked in their general direction.

"Talk." Was all that Zuko said, while Aang trailed silently behind him, not saying a word or making eye contact with any of them.

"What's their problem." Toph mused.

"I think it has something to do with what I said yesterday." Katara lamented. She didn't tell the others about her and Zuko's conversation yesterday afternoon, before she went ballistic on Aang later that same day. She thought that it would be best not to stick her foot in her mouth anymore that day and cause anymore problems. She watched as Aang and Zuko disappeared down the mountain and out of sight.

They walked for a good ten minutes, neither one of them saying a word, but for two different reasons. Zuko didn't want to say anything just yet, he wanted to give Aang a chance to get any and everything off his chest. Aang on the other hand was not really in the mood to have this conversation. Being with Zuko just made him think of all of his failures with the invasion plan, the escape and not to mention, yesterdays attack by combustion man, everything that he was involved with lately seemed to just be falling apart. And now there was another causality to his inexperience. Had he been more prepared with his avatar training, then maybe N'Dare would still be awake, and he would be able to ask me questions about where she came from and if she was in fact an air bender.

"Why did you bring me out here?" Aang had finally found his voice, and the first question that came to mind, he asked.

"I wanted to talk to you. Look, I know you and your friends don't trust me, and I can't blame you. But I just really wanted you to understand that this is not some kind of trap, I really do want to help." Zuko said with as much honesty as he could put forward. Looking in his eyes, Aang could see that the teen was telling the truth, but this was Zuko, the person who tried to whip him from the face of the world. How could he trust someone who had been his biggest enemy? He began to think of his training with the monks and what that meant to him in his life. The teaching of Monk Gyatso was the first thing that he could think of, the man was more than a mentor, he was the closest thing to a father that he had.

"I can't say that I trust you Zuko… but I have no choice but to admit that I do need your help. But that in no way makes us friends."

"I can take that… thank you ava… Aang." Zuko was relieved that they had come with an agreement.

* * *

"I wonder what's taking them so long." Katara paced back and forth in front of Appa.

"Don't worry, I'm sure twinkle toes can handle ol' fire butt." Toph told her.

"It's just that they've been gone for so long now. What if Zuko's captured him and is taking him back to the Fire Nation as we speak." For a while no one said anything, none of them wanted to admit it, but it did seem like something that would happen to them.

"Or maybe you're just overreacting…" a voice said from behind them. Everyone turned to see who it was that had spoken, and when they saw who it was, their jaws dropped. The girl was awake, but that wasn't what caused them to gawk at her. When last they saw her, she was wearing a tattered gown, now all that remained was a top that looked more like a bra and a strip of fabric that fit more like a loincloth the anything else."I told you guys before; he doesn't want to hurt him, he just wants to help him."

"Wow…" Sokka's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and the drool that ran down his chin had nothing to do with the meat he was eating.

"What… what's everyone so quiet for?" Toph asked; confused as to why Katara had stopped talking and Sokka's heart rate went through the roof.

"That's what I would like to know. What… is something showing?" N'Dare asked while she looked herself up and down to make sure that she wasn't overly exposed.

"It's nothing; we just didn't know when you would wake up. You were kinda out of it since yesterday, we didn't know what happened." Katara thought it best not to go into too much detail concerning the other girl dress. N'Dare's memories began to bombard her when Katara mentioned the previous day. She didn't remember everything, but the relevant parts were at the forefront of her mind. Most was still hazy, due to the migraine she was trying desperately to fight off, but it was there. The talk she tried to have with the avatar and his friends, that sudden felling like she could feel something that she couldn't see, Zuko fighting this huge guy with a wicked tattoo on his forehead, then the part when Zuko was knocked off a ledge and sent falling to his death.

"Zuko! Where is he, is he alright?! Oh goddess, please tell me that he's okay. I-I… where is he?!" she began to ramble hysterically, practically pulling the hair out of her head. She had lost too many people close to her, and she didn't want to relive the experience.

"I'm right here."

N'Dare turned to see Zuko walking back towards the temple followed immediately by Aang. Looking at her, Zuko felt a little ashamed, she was standing there in little less than a bathing suit, and she acted as if she was completely dressed. Aang to was a little shocked at the girl standing there in all her glory and didn't seemed to even notice. Without really thinking of what she was doing, N'Dare ran full tilt towards Zuko. The overwhelming need to make sure that this wasn't some kind of dream or illusion, made her forget all her reservation. Once she got close, she slowed to a slow walk, until she was a mere foot away from him. Slowly she reached her hand to his face, and ran her finger tips over his scar. When her figures touched his face, he flinched slightly. He always felt uncomfortably when people touched his scar, but when she did it, then removed her hand to run over his cheek, it left him yearning for the very same touch.

"I thought you were dead." She whispered, a split second before she enveloped him in a hug.

"No… thanks to you." He said just as breathlessly. Her touch was affecting him more than he would have thought a day ago.

"What?" she dropped her hands from around his neck and stared into his eyes with confusion.

"You don't remember what happened yesterday?" Aang asked, as he stepped closer to the two.

N'Dare regarded him for a moment, trying desperately to recall the memories of the previous day, the more she tried, the hazier things became. The last thing she remembered was Zuko going over the cliff, then after that, there was this… static inside her mind, almost like she was being shocked. He brain felt like it was on fire whenever she tried to get past that certain part in her memories, but she wouldn't let that keep her from the truth, she had to dig deeper. Slowly, she began to remember, she remember feeling her world turning inside out at the sight of Zuko going over the cliff. She remembered how she wanted desperately for the power to do something that would spare anyone else pain. Then she remembered this feeling coursing through her, like a shock running from her brain, down her spine, sending her heart racing.

"I-I did something… I… I did something to the wind… I made it change?" it was more of a question than a statement.

"So you remember now." Aang asked her, hopeful that this would give him some of the answers that he had wanted to ask since yesterday. He had being killing himself all day, with random thoughts, now the answers were so close, he could feel them.

"Sort of… I remember having this feeling, like the world was somehow different. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt, and after seeing what happened to Zuko… I just couldn't take it anymore." He mind became more clouded with each passing second. None of this made any sense, how could this have happen? Then it hit her. How could she have been so foolish, as to not understand what was happening before now? This was what her mother was trying to tell her, before her world went to Hell; she was trying to tell her of her lineage, about the connection that they shared.

"N'Dare… are you alright?" Zuko asked, as he grabbed her by the shoulders, and started deeply into her eyes. She seemed unfocused, almost like she was in a trance.

"Yeah… Zuko, I need you to do something for me?" Her mind had shifted into overdrive, she had to confirm what her mind was telling her, and she had to test out this new found theory.

"What?" he asked.

"I need you to spar with me…" she noticed the instant reaction he had.

"No… yesterday you passed out from air bending, which I didn't even know you could do! Plus Katara had to heal your wounds, and you're still not completely healed yet. Now you want me to spar with you… do you even know how to fight?" he admonished.

For the first time did she notice that the pain in her side was no longer excruciating. She could still feel a dull pain, but noticed that she could breathe with relative ease, but none of that matter at the moment. What she just heard was Zuko underestimate her capabilities, and right now she was more than in the mood to prove him, and anyone else, that she was capable of defending herself, and others if necessary, with or without powers. Without a word, she walked back into the temple, not sparing a glance at anyone.

"N'Dare…." Zuko tried to go after her, but the menacing glare she throw over her shoulder made her look so much like Azula, it was scary.

"I think you just made her really mad, fire butt." Toph said, as she sensed the other girl walk away.

"I wasn't trying to make her mad; I was just trying to make sure that she didn't get hurt."

"I find that really hard to believe Zuko."

"Not now Katara, we really need to figure out what's going on here." Sokka said, once again being the voice of reason. They didn't have time to argue over who did what and when, right now they needed to figure out who N'Dare really was, and if she would be able to help turn this war around for them. While Sokka tried to hold a fuming Katara from tearing Zuko to shreds, and Aang and Toph tried futilely to hold back their laughs, N'Dare walked back out into the entrance of the temple with the same determined glared, but this time, she also had her compressed staff with her.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I wanted to spar with you. You either have one of two choices, you can either fight back, or get your butt handed to you." She said, with a little more anger in her voice than she meant. She began to put her hair in the braid she always wore it in when she trained, and right now she was taking this as seriously as any training session she has ever had. She would show them that she was not an armature, and that she was full capable of taking care of business.

"I told you that I wouldn't fight you."

"Well it seems as though you want to get your ass handed to you boyo, cause rather you want to are not, this fight will happen." She said, and with a flick of her wrist, she extended her staff to its full length.

"Wow… how did you do that?" Sokka was amazed at what had just happened. N'Dare had walking out of the temple with a small baton, and by spinning the stick, she managed to turn it into a staff the size of Aang's glider.

"It was a gift… now Zuko, I'm going to ask you one more time, will you spar with me?"

"I won't"

"Fine…" she mumbled.

And without warning she launched herself at Zuko. He was a little taken off guard when he had the wind knocked out of him, when she delivered a swift kick to his midsection. How did she move so fast? He barley seen her move, yet she had managed to attack him from across the room in a blink of an eye. When he was able to catch his breath, he saw her running at him at incredible speed, this time with her staff at the ready. At the last possible second, he managed to dodge out of the way for her swing, and roll out of her reach.

"You guys are just going to stand there?!" he asked the others.

"She's your friend Zuko… you handle her." Katara was taking more pleasure out of this than normal. It served Zuko right to think that just because she was injured, that she couldn't fight, besides, she like seeing the girl give Zuko what he deserved, and thought that maybe she could get along with the girl. She also had to admit, the girl was good. She could most defiantly give the Kiyoshi warriors a run for their money, and maybe even Azula and her little friends.

"I don't you guy, maybe we should help. What if one of them gets really hurt?" Aang asked, even though it was obvious that he was more concerned about the N'Dare than Zuko.

"Not on your life twinkle toes, this is way too good to let go. She is really kicking Zuko's butt." Toph said with a gleeful smile on her face. She was able to tell the moves that N'Dare was doing with her feet, and even she was having trouble keeping up. When the girl moved she barely made any vibrations on the ground because she walked so softly.

N'Dare continued to pursue Zuko, hoping to force him to respond and go on the offensive. She couldn't really test out her theory if she didn't get him to push her harder. When she left to retrieve her staff, she tried effortlessly to call upon her powers, but no matter how hard she tried, noting happened. So she figured that being under pressure and wanting to help those around her, was what must have triggered her powers. So the only logical answer was to somehow simulate the same situation, without the danger. So she continued to push forward, hoping that she would get Zuko to attack and not just defend.

He was having a slight problem with keeping up. The more he tried to evade her swings and kicks, the more she seemed to be gaining more ground. She was good… there was no denying that. The only people that he would have had this much trouble defending against were his uncle, Azula, and his own father. Whoever trained her knew exactly what they were doing, and didn't spare any details when it came to relaying the message to her. She was also very skilled with the Bo staff that she had brought out with her.

The constant kicks and jabs were getting more precise as time went on, and Zuko couldn't figure out how he could end this without her getting hurt. His options were few and his stamina was running out, he had to figure out something. Then an idea struck him, if he could only pin her down for a second, then that would give him a chance to talk some since into her. So he waited, and continued to dodge every punch she threw at him, until he saw his opening. While she was trying to deliver a kick to his head, Zuko managed to duck and get underneath her leg, throwing her off balanced. The ground came rushing towards her, and soon she was sprawled on her back, eyes shut tight to the stars she seen flash briefly in front of her eyes. Zuko stared wide eyed at her, while she rubbed the back of her head.

"Are you alright? I didn't mean for you to fall that hard…" he rambled, as he made his way towards her. When he reached down to help her to her feet, she slapped his hand away.

"I'm fine… that was just a lucky shot." She said as she got to her feet, and dusted herself off, preparing to continue the little sparring match.

"You still want to do this? I thought… you're still hurt, you shouldn't be doing this." She didn't respond this time, she only attacked. One way or another, she would get her powers to come forth. They continued to dodge and punch at one another, with N'Dare being the aggressor and Zuko playing the role of pacifist, which was a role that he was not all together used to playing. Soon the skirmish began to heat up, literally. He figured that if she wasn't going to give up unless he really started to try, then he really didn't see any choice but to oblige her. She deflected most of his fireballs with her staff, and did a complicated amount of flips and dodges.

He was still careful that he didn't do anything that would harm her, but he wanted to show her that she was in no condition to be doing any of this. He was able to admit that in a normal situation, she would be able to defend herself, but this was no normal situation. Just yesterday she was bleeding through her bandages, and passed out from air bending; now she wanted to fight him? None of it made any sense, what could have happened over the last few hours that would make her act like this. He didn't know the answer, but he was sure that he would find out. He began to fire off shots, mostly to throw her off balance. When he finally got her to a position to where he thought he had the upper hand, he used the palms of his hand to punch her in the midsection, knocking the wind out of her and sending her into the pillar behind her. Rushing forward, he used his body and pressed it firmly against hers, stopping any chance she had to attacking him anymore.

"Now will you listen to me?!"

She had lost… she had never lost to anyone other than Rachel. She had done everything that Elizabeth had taught her to engage an enemy. What could have gone wrong? She knew the answer to that question; she had let her emotions get the better of her. She was trying with all her might to call forth powers that she didn't even now she had until then. She was just so frustrated on how things were going that all she wanted to do was show everyone that she could do it… that she could be just as good as her mother.

"NO! I won't listen… I want you to fight me. I want you to understand that I don't need you or anyone else's protection. I can handle myself." The tears began to stream down her cheeks, and the frustration was now apparent in her voice. It was all becoming too much. What more did she have to do to have her powers answer her call? Did she really have to be close to death for them to work? Her mother never seemed to have this much trouble calling forth the winds. So why did she? Maybe she want good enough, maybe the winds only obeyed those strong enough to command them.

She closed her eyes against the realization of maybe she wasn't fit to control these powers. Her heart began to beat furiously in her chest, and once again, her head began to swim. This was the same feeling that she got the last time; she could hear a small inaudible voice, coaxing her to listen. The sound began to get louder and louder, to the point that she was almost in complete ecstasy from the sheer sensations she was experiencing. She could hear someone calling her name, but it was so far on her list of things to do. The power was coursing through her, she could feel it building in her heart, and when she opened her eyes, they were misted over.

Zuko began to worry; she wasn't responding to anything that he said, all she did was stand there with her head lowered and tears streaming out of her eyes. Maybe he had gone too far with that last attack. Maybe she wasn't completely healed, and he had re-broken some of her bones. That one thought gave him pause, he didn't want to hurt her, he had said so on more than one occasion, but she just wouldn't stop, she wouldn't let him try and help her. He called out her name again, trying desperately to get her to answer him. And when she lifted her head and stared at him, his mouth went dry and his mind blank. Staring at him were not eyes the color of silver, but eyes misted over, almost like the clouds themselves.

She couldn't see Zuko standing in front of her any more. She couldn't see any of the people that were once standing there, watching her and Zuko in their little match. The only thing she saw was what she saw the last time, swirls of energy in all sorts of colors, ebbing and flowing in every direction. She wanted to touch them, reach out and see what it felt like to hold them in her hands. She was like a child with a new toy, excited yet scared, amazed and full of awe. She could never have imagined felling anything like this… it left her breathless. So she reached out, and touched the swirling patterns, and as before, they reacted to her touch. The air around her began to swirl around her feet, and traveling up her legs and body, playing with the platinum pony tail that hung like a rope down her back. The air was responding to her happiness, and as proof of that, it began to lift her body, almost as much as it lifted her soul.

Zuko let her go once he saw her eyes. There was something familiar that he saw in them. It was the look Aang had whenever he went into his avatar state. Zuko didn't understand what was happening, but he knew that whatever it was, it would be big. He watched as she slowly rose from the ground. Eyes still misted over, and a smile on her face, whatever it was that she was doing, it must have made her feel really good.

The Gaang watched as the events unfolded before their eyes. One minute N'Dare had Zuko on the ropes, then the next he had her pinned to a stone column. Then the most bizarre twist of events happened, for the second time in two days, the girl performed an act they thought only Aang was capable of. If there was any doubt in their minds that this girl was an actual air bender, then that question was swiftly answered.

He power began to grow; she could feel it trying to go beyond her capabilities to handle. She wasn't ready for this yet, she didn't know what would happen if she let it go any further. She had to get control; she had to stop what she had set in motion. She tried to remember what her mother told her about her powers. That it wasn't the winds that controlled her, but she who controlled the winds. It was a matter of dominance, if her will was strong enough, then she would be able to command the element to do what she wanted, not the other way around. So she focused, brought her will to bear on the winds that she had summoned forth, demanding that they stop their assault and do as commanded. For a brief moment they waned, and seemed to be yielding to her whim, but just as soon as they faltered, they roared to life once more.

The instant influx of power ravaged her mind. She had never felt anything like it, it left her with a headache that she was sure would leave her very tired later. Still she couldn't let her own creation hurt her friends; she had to stop what she had put in motion. The winds began to pick up strength, and toss small stones and debris around the temple. The Gaang huddle together to try and protect one another from flying rocks, while Appa and Momo shrieked and roared. Aang acted swiftly by creating a pressure dome around his friends and Zuko, he knew firsthand what could happen in this type of situation. But even with his advanced air bending skills, the wind that N'Dare was crating was pushing at the wall of his dome; things would get far worse before they got better.

Then without warning, the currents of air keeping N'Dare aloft, exploded outwards in a massive display of power. Stone pillars that had stood for centuries, were knocked down as if they were little more than twigs. Tile that was placed on the floor began to peel away as if they were dead leaves on the ground. Aang knew that his dome would be no match for what she had just put out, so he and Toph did the only thing they could think of, they encased everyone, including Appa in a concrete bubble, effectively cutting them off from harms away, but not before they heard the scream that was torn from N'Dare, as the power that she wielded, tore itself form her.

To be continued…

A/N: well how did I do? I hope you guys enjoyed this little chapter. With this chapter, I was aiming more for the original Avatar characters to get a little time to shine. Over the last couple of chapters, I've been having to build up my character, and now I feel like I'm in a place to deal with the more canon aspect of the story. I hope I kept all the people in character and that there was no OOC or Marysue( which honestly, I don't have any clue as to what that means.) Oh no… what happened to N'Dare? Did her powers destroy her, is this the last chapter? LOL hardly… you'll just have to wait until THE NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BALL Z. I used to hate it when the announcer said that! Well until next time people… Please read and review.


	11. Secrets Revealed

**Of Mutants and Benders**

**By: Orionstorm04**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men. I only own the original idea and my OC's. I also don't own _River Lullaby;_ it's sung by Amy Grant. Please read and review; hope you enjoy.

**A/N:** It's that time again people, another wonderful chapter! Well I hope you think this will be another wonderful chapter, I wouldn't want to overstep my bounds or anything. A lot of things will be taking place in the chapter, but I won't give away any secrets yet. I would like to give a huge thank you to **Sakura-Neko Chan13**, for constantly giving me support and updates, you are a true friend. Also to **Young Neil**, I greatly appreciate you and your constant reviews.

**Secrets Reveled**

Absolute silence is what met the occupants of the stone dome. There was no sound, not even a ghost of a whisper of wind. Toph, with her heightened hearing, was the first to notice the silence outside, and with a swift gesture of her arms, the stone around her and the others crumbled away. The sight before them left everyone in shock. The once beautiful Air Temple was in ruins. The pillars that once stood for centuries had been toppled, and its pieces scattered around the main entrance. Piles of stone and debris littered the area around the Gaang, but all of this was expected after a massive display of power. One sight however, was not immediately present once the group emerged. N'Dare was nowhere in sight, the spot where she once stood, or hovered as the case, was now covered in stone.

"Where… where is she?" Zuko asked softly.

Panic began to creep into his voice, as the worst possible thoughts began to invade his mind. Watching N'Dare ascend into the air by a strong gust of wind left the Fire Nation prince in awe. He had witnessed Aang perform similar acts in the past, but to see another person perform a long since lost art of bending was mind-boggling. Watching her was both frightening and beautiful at the same time. She looked so natural at what she was doing, and the look in her eyes…

"We have to find her, she could be hurt." The commanding tone in Aang's voice was apparent to everyone there. He was not about to let this be the end of everything, she couldn't be dead, not now. Leaping into the air, Aang jumped to the first group on boulders he came across. Brining his fist down with all his might, the huge boulder shattered into hundreds of pieces. There was nothing underneath, and with a hard stared he carried on to the next.

The Gaang, including Zuko, watched as the Avatar went from one cluster of rocks to the next, using earth bending to clear the area in search of N'Dare. Soon the others began to help clear the debris, all of them hoping to find the girl alright. Aang was using every method of bending that he could to move rocks out of the way, it was an arduous task, one that would surely leave the group extremely tired, but they were fueled by the hopes that N'Dare would be found… and alive. The feverish hunt came to an end, when Toph sensed moving under a pile of rocks a few feet away from her.

"I think I've found her!" the blind girl yelled, drawing her arms closer to her body, and stomping her foot on the ground, cause the boulders to hover in midair.

Zuko and Aang were the first to make it to Toph, and when they got there, both held their breath in anticipation of the condition N'Dare would be in. Once the last of the boulders where removed, the prone body of N'Dare lay motionless on her back. Fear gripped Aang's heart when he saw her; she didn't look as though she was breathing. Zuko walked over to her and kneeled before her, before placing her head gently in his lap. He had told his Uncle that he would look after her… he had promised that he would do everything that his Uncle asked. Now all of that was a lie, he couldn't even make sure that the one thing that his Uncle asked him to do was taken care of.

"I'm sorry… I should have…" Zuko choked on his words, not being able to bring himself to say that he had caused her death. He hadn't known the girl all that long, but losing her like this caused a dull pain to form in his chest. He couldn't say that he liked her all that much, cause they had only known each other a few days, but in those days, she managed to reach a part of him that took others months, if not years, to get to. She was so easy to talk to at times… when she was snapping at him.

Aang on the other hand was going through his own personal grieving process. He had known her far less than Zuko, and never really gotten a chance to speak with her, but the connection was still there. The two of them had so much in common. He had wanted, needed, so much for her to be just like him, an air bender, so that he wouldn't feel so alone, and when she had began to hover in the air, his heart began to race. Finally there was someone that he would be able to talk to. Even with Katara, who he felt so much towards, couldn't completely understand what it was like being the last person of your race. And to have that aspect of his past returned to him seemed like a gift come true. But now that gift was taken away, just as swiftly as it was delivered.

The rest of the grouped lingered a little distance away from Zuko, and the girl lying in his arms, unsure of what to say. For a long time he was their enemy, now in this brief moment, almost consumed by his grief, he almost seemed human. The nurturing side of Katara wanted nothing more than to tell him that everything would be okay, that he could move on from this. But her anger and resentment from the past would not let her.

Sokka watched the image in front of him, it was tragic yes, but he really couldn't bring himself to feel any real pain. He had seen and lost many people from this war, some far more close to him than this girl. So he had learned long ago to dull himself from the pain of loss caused by the Fire Nation… that was Katara's specialty. Looking over towards his sister, Sokka noticed the contorted look on her face. She looked as though she had just eaten a sea prune, the way her lips were down turned. He could tell that she was fighting with herself on whether or not she should say something. He had long since figured out that something had changed in her towards Zuko. In the beginning, she hated him just as much as the rest of them did, but now her anger and hatred seemed to stem from something far greater than any of them were aware.

"Look… Zuko, I'm sorry about your friend…" Sokka tried his best to be the supportive and compassionate one, since it seemed as though Katara would remain mute on the matter.

"You're sorry?! You didn't even know her; you didn't even try to give her a chance! All of you condemned her since the moment she got here, simply because she was with me!" Zuko yelled out. None of them really knew who N'Dare was, and most likely didn't even trust her because of him. He was about to finished telling Sokka and the others what they could do with their sympathy, when N'Dare began to sputter and cough.

"N'Dare…"

She continued to gasp desperately for air, until her airways decided to cooperate. Her eyes sprang open, and the light of the sun assaulted her eyes. Her lungs felt as if they were on fire, and she was currently feeling the onset of a massive headache, one that she was sure would out perform any other that she ever experienced. Her vision began to clear, and she was greeted with the relived faces of Zuko, Aang and the others.

"You're alive!" Aang said overjoyed. He had never remembered being this excited in a while, and this good news overshadowed all of the current bad events of the past couple of days.

She couldn't speak immediately; her coughing hadn't fully stopped, she then brought her hands up to her eyes, shielding them from the harsh sun.

"Here, drink this." Katara offered her some water from her pouch.

N'Dare gulped down every drop of water, welcoming the cool liquid into her enflamed throat. When she finally got her coughing and breathing under control, she looked at her surroundings and the group of people surrounding her as a whole. Everything was in ruins, the entrance hall to the temple looked as if an atomic bomb had went off. Everyone looked disheveled, Zuko was even sporting a fresh scratch on his chin, no doubt from when he was thrown several feet into the air after her little display. This wasn't supposed to happen; she wasn't supposed to lose control like that.

She was no better off than she was before, or maybe she was worse off. At least when she didn't have powers, she didn't hurt the people around her. For as long as she could remember, she wanted to be just like her mother, and now that she was, she wasn't sure that she wanted to be anymore. It took Ororo years to learn to master her powers, and even after all those years training herself, she still was in need of improvement. It was only after she had meet up with the late Professor Xavier, did she truly learn to master what was bestowed on her.

But N'Dare had no such person to teach her how to control such powers. She wasn't even sure of the limits of her abilities; the only aspect of weather that she was sure that she manipulated was the winds themselves. But that alone was enough to decimate and entire area, so what would it mean if she was able to do that with the entire weather system? That thought alone gave her pause, she was certain now that she didn't want that much power, she wasn't even able to control what she currently had.

Maybe coming to this world changed her mutant abilities; maybe she was limited to controlling the air, since it fits with the abilities of the local inhabitants. She consoled herself with that prospect, and decided that's what was to be, she wouldn't be gaining any more than what she had. But what she had was still too much; she had hurt those close to her… again. She couldn't imagine what she would do if she was the cause of any of them getting hurt. Looking at each one of them, she could hear them all asking if she was okay, but in truth, she really didn't know how to answer. Physically, yes, she was fine, but mentally, she was in turmoil. She had to make a decision, one that would see that no one got hurt on account of her.

"I'm leaving…" she interrupted the barrage of questions of whether she was okay or not.

Everyone stopped in mid-sentence, shocked at what was just said, none more so than Zuko. She was leaving? She couldn't be leaving; she had nowhere to go. And why would she be leaving? Everything was happening so fast the he really couldn't wrap his head around it.

"What do you mean leaving?"

N'Dare turned sorrowful eyes to the one who had asked the question, it was Aang. She looked deep into the boy's eyes, and she wasn't entirely sure, but she could have sworn that she saw a glimmer of hurt and sadness in them. She had only spoken a hand full of words to the boy that she had learned was the Avatar, and his friends, so walking away from them really didn't hurt as much as walking away from Zuko. She hadn't known him long either, but the two seemed to finally be hitting it off, and dare she say, actually becoming friends. Once she got over his abrasiveness and his brooding mood, he was an okay guy.

"Exactly what it means, leaving as in going away!" she thought that making them hate her would make this a lot easier, at least for them anyway.

"Hey! Don't yell at him!" Katara was quick to jump to Aang's defense. She still didn't trust this girl or Zuko, so if she chose to leave, that meant nothing to her, but was not about to let her yell at Aang only for asking a question.

"I'll yell at whomever I want! Your little bossy tactics may work on your little friends, but they sure as hell don't work on me, so just BACK OFF!" that came off with a little bit more venom than she was going for, but the more realistic this seemed, the better, she had to make a clean break, it was best for everyone.

"What did you just say to me?!" Katara's anger was at its peak. She couldn't believe the nerve of this girl, after all that they had done for her; she was acting like a total witch.

"Do I need to speak more slowly for you, or dumb it down?" N'Dare rose onto her feet, brining her staff with her. She got in an aggressive pose, showing the other girl that this was not game… or was it?

"Oh I like her," Toph said. This was becoming more fun by the minute. She hadn't met anyone who really went against Katara other than herself, and it was an amusing sight seeing someone get just as upset with her and her perfectionist was as she did.

The two began to stare each other down, Katara with her water whips ready, and N'Dare grasping her staff firmly. The whole time that N'Dare was yelling and snapping on the others, Zuko remained silent. He was trying to make sense of what was going on, and to figure out a way to get N'Dare to sit down and talk to him about this. He couldn't just let her go; his uncle would kill him if he just let her go off on her own. Seeing that the situation between N'Dare and Katara was getting more heated by the second, he stood up and made his way between the two of them.

"Okay, everybody just calm down." He tried to settle the tempers before they flared even further out of control.

"Tell that to your girlfriend, she's the one acting crazy!" Katara spat, being held back by her brother.

Zuko's cheeks turned crimson at the title that Katara had put on him and N'Dare. N'Dare on the other hand didn't seem to pick up on the insult that was just thrown her way, and instead continued to try and push the subject.

"Well maybe if you had a boyfriend, you wouldn't be such a prude. Honestly how did these guys put up with you and that attitude for so long?"

This was getting out of hand, if something wasn't done soon, there wouldn't be enough people in all the nations to hold Katara back. Zuko turned and looked N'Dare directly in the eye, trying nonverbally to get her to calm down, but by the looks of it, that wasn't going to work. He placed his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to focus solely on him.

"N'Dare, you should calm down. Let's just talk about this, and try and figure some things out?" he pleaded with her, hoping that the girl he had those talks with in the cave would return.

"I don't want to calm down! I just want to get as far away from all of you as possible. None of you understand anything right now, and trying to pretend you do won't make matters any better!" N'Dare shrugged his hand off of her shoulder, and pushed passed him, heading down the cliff and into the wooded area.

Everyone watched her go, even more confused than before. One though was beginning to understand what was going on. One thing stuck out when she was yelling at Zuko that struck a chord with Aang. None of the others did understand what was going on with her, none that is except him. He alone understood what it was like to be connected with the air to such a degree. He understood how scared she must have been, that the powers that she controlled could hurt those around her.

Zuko was about to run after, and try and get her to talk, when all of a sudden he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see that the hand belonged to Aang, and the look on his face was the most serious he had ever seen the boy.

"I'll go talk to her…" Aang waited for Zuko to nod his understanding, and brought the wings of his glider out, and turned to give a reassuring smile to his friends. Without another word, he leapt into the air and soared away.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had been hours since he left the group to find N'Dare, and even after all that time, he hadn't found any sign of her. He had searched everywhere; there was no way that she could have gotten that far on foot. The sun had begun to set, and his hopes of finding her was starting to fade with the last rays of sunlight. He was heading back to the temple, when the sounds of singing caught his attention. It was unlike any song he had heard before, or any language. Whoever was singing it sounded alone, sad… and nearby.

He walked through the brush, until he came to a ledge overlooking the entire forest. Sitting on the edge of the ledge, singing the somber melody, was the person that he had spent the better part of the day looking for. She didn't even seem to notice that he was even there, and he wasn't sure how or if he should interrupt her. The sadness behind her voice was enough to bring anyone to tears

_Hush now, my baby  
Be still love, don't cry  
Sleep like you're rocked by the stream  
Sleep and remember  
My lullaby  
And I'll be with you when you dream_

Aang couldn't understand a word that she was singing, but with the emotions behind the lyrics, he was more than able to interpret their pain. The sense of loss and longing was the most pronounce feeling that he was able to see in her and the unshed tears that were glistening in her eyes was a big indication also.

_Drift on a river  
That flows through my arms  
Drift as I'm singing to you  
I see you smiling  
So peaceful and calm  
And holding you, I'm smiling, too  
Here in my arms  
Safe from all harm  
Holding you, I'm smiling, too_

N'Dare's soul felt tortured; she didn't want to leave, but she knew that to stay meant to hurt those near to her. She couldn't do that, not even to Katara, even though the other girl did somewhat get on her last nerves. But there was no other choice, until she was able to better control her abilities, she couldn't put the others at risk. A lone tear began to make its way down her cheek, realizing that she had already lost them, before she even had a chance to gain them.

_Hush now, my baby  
Be still, love, don't cry  
Sleep like you're rocked by the stream  
Sleep and remember this river lullaby  
And I'll be with you when you dream  
I'll be with you when you dream_

Aang listened as N'Dare finished the last of her song, and watched as the tears that she was fighting so hard to hold back, make their way slowly down her cheek. He thought that now was a better time than any to let her know that he was there. Making his way towards her, he began to mentally go over what he would say. He was never really good at comforting crying girls; normally Katara was the one to deal with that. But know it was his turn, he was the Avatar after all, and if he couldn't deal with a crying girl, then how would he be able to take on the Fire Lord? The moment he took a step into the clearing leading to the ledge that N'Dare was perched on, the girl's attention snapped towards him, and without a word, her staff was fully extended and sent hurdling at his head.

Thanks to his training, Aang's reflexes were quick, but only barely. The staff embedded itself in the tree directly behind him. His heartbeat was going faster than he was ever able to run, and he couldn't help but let out a small squeak.

"Aang?! Goddess, I didn't know it was you. How did you find me?" N'Dare quickly began to wipe the tears from her eye.

"I came looking for you, and when I heard you singing…" Aang turned and looked away, pretending to not see the tears. "You have a beautiful voice. I never heard a song like that."

"It was a lullaby my mother used to sing to me when I was younger. It was in Arabic." She gave a soft smile at the memory of her mother holding her in her arms while she would sing her to sleep.

"Is that the language you use in your nation?" it was an intimate question he knew, but this would give him his first insight into who N'Dare really was.

"Something like that… why did you follow me?" she asked suspiciously

"Well you just ran off, and I wanted to make sure that you were alright," he said while rubbing the back of his neck, trying not to let his embarrassment show.

N'Dare watched the younger boy in front of her shift from one foot to the other in anticipation. He was worried about her, after everything that had happened at the temple, and him only knowing her for a few hours, he was worried? She was desperately hoping that they would just let her disappear into the darkness and not think twice about her, but he followed.

"But why… why do you care?" he knew nothing about her, yet he cared enough to follow her?

"I don't know… I guess I kind of understand what you're going through. For a long time I thought that I was the last air bender, and now you show up, and suddenly I don't feel so alone." The honesty in that sentence left N'Dare staring at the boy.

She hadn't thought about how her powers emerging would affect someone else, but had she been thinking clearly, she would have to say that if it would have touched someone, she would have certainly thought of him. Zuko had told her how the Avatar was the last air bender, and even if she wasn't an air bender entirely, she could understand the misconception.

"I was afraid… I was afraid that I would hurt someone." She turned sad eyes unto him. "I have lost so much in such a short period of time; I didn't want to be the cause of any of you getting hurt." this time she didn't try to hide the tears, there was no need anymore, she was just so tired that she didn't even try to explain away her complacent behavior.

"I can help you, I can teach you how to air bend, that way you won't hurt anybody by accident," Aang suggested vehemently.

"I don't think that this will be the same as what you're used to," she tried lamely to dissuade him from offering his help. If she was wrong about the extent of what she was capable of, she didn't want things to get any worse. Though her excuse was flimsy at best, and Aang was able to pick up on it, and pressed forward.

"No really, I can help. I was trained by the best air bender in the world, Monk Gyatso. Of course, being the Avatar has helped, so I think I could help you control it." He actually thought that he was getting through to her.

"I don't know…" she was still hesitant to accept his offer, but it would make sense for her to be trained by someone who had as much insight as he did.

"Come on, it'll be fun. When I had to be trained in the other styles of bending, I had the best teachers, and everything worked out. Pleeeeeaassee…" Aang could see her beginning to crack, and so, to seal the deal, he thought to use the baby face. Poking out his bottom lip, and causing it to quiver just slightly, that and in conjunction with his glassy eyes, he was sure that she couldn't say no.

N'Dare looked on at Aang in near dread; she hated it when people used the puppy dog stare on her. Rachel used to do that all the time whenever she wanted to get her to do something, which normally tended to get them into trouble. She could feel her resolve crumbling under that stare, and soon she was begging him to stop.

"Alright… alright, I'll come back, just don't do that. You're worse than Rachel."

"Alright!!!" Aang smiled victoriously at her concession, but then stopped halfway in his victory dance. He had heard her use that name before, when she was half awake in the temple. If they were going to be spending a lot of time around one another, they would have to learn to trust each other, which in other words meant telling a few things about who they were.

"Who is that?" he saw the confusion on her face, so he continued. "Rachel, you've said that name before. Who is she?" he watched the different emotions play across her face, before they finally settled in a mask of finality.

"Come on." She walked up to Aang and grabbed him by the hand.

"Where are we going?" he asked confused.

"If I'm going to answer your question, I would rather like to answer it only once. So we're going back to the temple, that way I won't have to repeat myself."

She continued to drag Aang back to the trail that she took earlier, in her quest to get away from the others. Aang was so delighted in not only the fact that N'Dare would be returning with him, but also to allow him to train her, so much so that by the time they were reaching the base of the temple, it was he who was dragging her. When they finally reached the temple, all the debris had been removed, leaving the entrance almost as it was before the incident.

"Aang, you're back. I was beginning to worry." Katara made her way over towards Aang. When she got closer, she was able to spot N'Dare directly behind him.

"N'Dare… you came back?" Zuko questioned. The whole time that she was gone, he had been silently hoping that Aang would be able to convince her to return, but his hopes weren't that high. What he did know of N'Dare, was that she was a very strong-willed, and stubborn person, and once she was set on something, then she wasn't going to be pushed into something else.

At first N'Dare made no response to his comment, she didn't know what to say. She had said some pretty hurtful things before she had left, and was more than aware that a simple apology wouldn't suffice. She looked to Katara first; she knew that she would have to be the first she apologized to, since she was the cruelest to her. She walked to the water tribe girl, her face a mask of regret, before stopping a few feet away.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean all those things I said earlier. I had no right to yell at you or anyone else. I was upset and confused, though I know that is not an excuse."

Katara only listened at first, absorbing everything that N'Dare was saying to her. Her apology felt real, and if she was to be honest with herself, she never really did give her a fair chance. She had automatically assumed that the girl was up to something, simply because she was accompanied by her arch enemy, and that wasn't fair. She hadn't always been like that; at one time she would have given anyone an opportunity. But the war had changed her, and not particularly for the best. It had changed them all really; no more were they children trapped in an adult situation. Now they were warriors in their own right, trying desperately to survive.

"Apology accepted, and I want to say that I'm also sorry. I didn't give you a fair chance. How about we start over?" Katara extended her hand to N'Dare, smiling pleasantly.

"I'd like that." N'Dare took the offered hand, sealing her commitment with the other girl.

The group as a whole watched the exchange, some with mixed emotions. Toph was happy that everyone was getting along, but felt a little disappointed that she would be the only one to give Katara a hard time. Sokka was more intrigued than anything else. His mind was going over ways of how two air benders could really help them out in the war. Zuko on the other hand was relieved; he hadn't failed in his promise to his uncle, and N'Dare had returned.

Soon N'Dare's eyes caught that of Zuko's, and she instantly remembered what it was the she was to do next. She had been withholding information from them long enough, and if they were to truly trust one another, than she would have to give them little more than vague details of her past.

"There is something that I need to say… to everyone." She spoke nervously.

The group fell silent, all wondering what she was referring to. Aang knew that she was prepared to tell them who she was, and made no effort to figure out what she needed to tell them; he would find out soon enough. Everyone waited patiently for N'Dare to continue. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to relive the final moments of her once happy life.

"There have been things that I have been keeping from you…" she looked pointedly at Zuko, before encompassing the rest in her line of vision. "All of you. There are things about my past that I would have rather been kept locked away and never to return, but I realize now that in order for us to trust one another, I can't keep secrets that can potentially harm the rest of you." She paused and waited to see if anyone would respond, and when none came she continued.

"I haven't been completely honest about my origins, but that is a mistake that I am prepared to rectify. I guess, first off I should start by giving a more formal introduction, as is customary in my home. I am N'Dare Jamilla Zuri Ade… princess of Wakanda." A resounding collective gasp could be heard around the campfire, the revelation that N'Dare left everyone at a loss for words.

"You're a princess?!"

"Wow!"

"I knew something was up with her."

Everyone was talking at once, all that is except Zuko. This would explain a lot of things about her. Being raised as a royal himself, Zuko was able to pick up on a few tell tale signs, the way she carried herself with elegance and grace, how even at her worse, she still remained poised. It also somewhat explained her fighting capabilities, the styles she was using must have been taught to her by someone very skilled, skilled enough to train someone of royal blood. But that still left one question unanswered…

"What nation is that a part of?" his question was direct and to the point, no more hiding behind vague responses, or shying away from the question all together. The others thought the same thing, none of them had ever heard of such a place.

"Well… that is one of the things that I haven't been up front about. You see, I'm not from any of the nations that you are all aware of. My home is far different than anything here, so much so that I don't believe we are even from the same world." She tried her best to explain to them the current situation, even though she didn't rightfully understand it herself.

"What does that even mean?" Sokka was becoming more confused with each passing second.

"It's kind of hard to explain." She was getting nowhere fast, and the more she tried to make sense of it, the worst it became.

"Not the same world, do you mean like the spirit world?" Katara tried to offer some help in trying to explain things better.

"The spirit world?" now N'Dare was becoming confused.

"It's where the spirits of the earth live. As the Avatar, I'm the bridge between the spirit world and the physical one." Aang clarified.

"Oh, well no, it's not the same thing; I think it best that I start from the beginning. You see, in my world things are a lot different. Pretty much nothing is the same; we don't have benders where I live."

"But you're an air bender, so you must have benders there," Toph reasoned.

"No, that's not what I meant, people in my world can do extraordinary things, yes, but it's not done the same as you do it here. The people of my world were not bound by simply controlling the four elements; they were gifted with powers just as unique as the people themselves. There were those who were capable of flight, without the aid of the winds. Some who were blessed with the abilities to read ones minds, and others far more powerful." The last part she was referring to her mother.

"How were they able to do those things?" Aang was even more intrigued by N'Dare, and her home.

"They… we were what was called mutants, born different from other humans, and gifted with powers that few were able to comprehend."

"What happened to them, why did you leave?" Katara's caring nature had reemerged, wondering what could have driven N'Dare away from her people

"I didn't by choice…" her mood changed dramatically by the question, as she was aware that it would. "It all happened so fast, we weren't prepared for it. It was my birthday, I had been training with Rachel all day, but that night, we had decided we would enjoy ourselves. Rachel and I had known each other our entire lives; she was more like my sister than anything else. Her mother and my mother were friend's years before either of us were born." A faraway look had settled over N'Dare's eyes, almost as if she were reliving a memory.

"My mother was queen of Wakanda, after my father was killed in the war against the humans. They were persistent, hell-bent on destroying the likes of my mother and people. The war had dragged on for years, stretching to the far reaches of the world, until no place was safe for mutants. The few bastions of mutant civilizations soon began to yield to the brutal might of the humans, until all that was left was Wakanda."

No one spoke as she revealed to them her past. Everyone listened intently as the girl before them retold the last accounts of her life.

"The humans soon discovered that the mutant race wouldn't go quietly into the night, so they designed a plan to strike back, and fiercely so. They began construction on a mechanical man, one without the frailties and emotions of a person. The creatures were cold, heartless and wasted not a second to destroy anything in its path. But evil only begets more evil; soon the creations turned on their masters, bringing about the end of those who brought them into being.

"Fearing for the safely of her people, my mother sealed away her city, the last hope of the human race. It was heartbreaking for her to know that she would be leaving the rest of the world to its fate, but she knew that there was nothing more that could be done. Years had passed since the city was sealed away, the creatures, known as sentinels, could not penetrate deeper into the city walls, and life for those within the walls continued.

"We thought we lived in a utopia, but we were only fooling ourselves, for all good things must come to an end. On the day of my sixteenth birthday, the sentinels managed to breach the walls of Wakanda, flooding our once peaceful home with wave after wave of cold blooded monsters. The protectors of the city, who were not only my mother's guards but her most trusted friends, went out to protect the innocents that lay beyond the protection of the palace. Little did they know that they were rushing headlong into their demise.

"My mother was the first to leave the palace to defend her people, and as the battle outside raged, so did another one begin inside. A few sentinels had managed to enter the palace undetected, and began a massive onslaught of those inside. Rachel and I were the only ones able to stop the creatures from killing everyone in sight, but we soon learned that we weren't enough. We fought hard, or at least I thought we did. But it wasn't enough… and on that day I lost someone more close to me than she will ever know…"

The pain of reliving that tragic experience was massive. Seeing Rachel's prone body in her arms, covered in blood and lifeless tore a gaping hole in N'Dare's heart, one she was certain may never heal.

"I watched as the one I called sister died in my arms, and I wanted nothing more than revenge. I foolishly tried to take on something that could have easily killed me, not caring about the consequences or the damage that was already done to my side."

Zuko sat up instantly; so that was the cause of her injury, and why she didn't wish to talk about it.

"My anger must have blinded me, because no sooner did I approach the monster, did it have me in its hands, preparing to end my life. But once again I was spared the fate that had befallen others around me; my mother was there to rescue me. We traveled to the citadel, hoping that there was some way to reverse the event of the past hour, but soon did I learn that that was not the purpose my mother had in mind.

"My mother had taken me there to prepare me for what, at the time, I didn't know; now, however, I have an understanding. There was a part of me that she locked away years ago; a part that I never knew was there. It was from her that I got my abilities to command the winds, and on that day, she returned them to me. The moment was bittersweet however; at the time she was preparing me, the doors to the chamber were blasted opened, and after that, I remember nothing.

"In no more than a few hours, my life had gone from pleasantly peaceful to hell on earth. Everything that I had once known was gone, never to return. I had lost more in one night, than any one person should loss in a lifetime, and it has plagued me ever since. In one night, I had loss my entire family, aunts and uncles, a sister and ultimately my mother."

The tears were set loose like a floodgate. She had hoped that, with time, her pain would slowly peel away, but that time had yet to come. She cried openly, not bothering to hide her face from any of them. Zuko was the first to his feet, and while N'Dare sat hunched on her knees, crying her heart out, he did everything he could to console her and show that he was still here. The Gaang soon followed suit, acting on Aang's eagerness to show his support.

"It's okay, you're not alone anymore; we're here," Zuko whispered softly in her ear, her arms circled his back and held on for dear life. She was in so much pain that she feared if she didn't anchor herself, she would surely fall into insanity.

Everyone stood there, looking at the scene of Zuko softly consoling N'Dare while she continued to cry. None spoke much during that time, but all had come to an unspoken understanding that tomorrow would be the start of a new day; everyone doing as much as they could to understand the other more.

To be continued…

**A/N:** Well that brings to an end another chapter. I hope you all enjoyed and I look forward to writing the next installment.


	12. Training Day

**Of Mutants and Benders**

**By: Orionstorm04**

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men I only own the original idea and my OC's.

A/N: Wow, I must really be on a roll here. This will make my second update in less than a month, a new personal best! I won't go into all the things I normally go into during my author's notes, I'll just say thank you to those who've read and reviewed. Now this will be a detailed chapter, being that it's a filler chapter I want it to be discriptive. Over the next couple of chapters, I'll be trying to create bonds between the characters, and the chapters will reflect that. Think of when Zuko went through his individual trials with each character, and you pretty much have an idea of what I have planned. I hope everyone continues to read and review, I really appreciate it.

**Training Day**

In the days following N'Dare's heartfelt revelation, the Gaang had managed to be pretty accepting. Everyone had been getting along pretty great. Katara was being patient and more accepting towards N'Dare, but refused to even hint to accepting Zuko. She was happy that there was finally another girl around, well other than Toph, who didn't act very girly most of the time. She even loaned N'Dare some clothes, seeing as all the girl had was the few strips of fabric that she called a training outfit. Once the two stopped arguing, Katara realized that they actually had a lot in common.

Neither one of them wanted to be thought of as weak simply because they were a girl, and both were more than capable of taking care of themselves. During one of Katara's water bending lessons with Aang, N'Dare sat in and watched how skilled the other girl was. She was amazed at the level of skill that Katara used in her water bending. There was a man that lived in Wakanda by the name of Hydro Man who had the ability to turn himself into liquid, but this was totally beyond anything she had ever seen.

While she had to admit that Aang was very quick on his feet, and also a good water bender himself, she was clearly able to see who the true master was. She watched in amazement, as Katara sent wave after wave of water in the young avatar's direction. She nearly fell out of her seat when Katara finally managed to trap him in a globe of water, suspending him in mid-air.

"Wow…" was all she was able to get out.

"Yeah, yeah, it's amazing. Now can we get back to business here?" Sokka asked.

She had originally promised to go over some battle plans with him, which was before she became enthralled in the sparing match between the two water benders. Seeing that she hadn't heard him, or paid him any mind, Sokka walked purposely towards N'Dare, and stood squarely in her line of sight.

"You said you'd help me with this, remember?" he said, holding a map of the Fire Nation in her face.

"Oh, yeah, right, I forgot." She blinked several times, only now realizing the boy before her. "Well get right on that."

She took the maps from his hands and reviewed them. This was defiantly not the earth she was used to, the land masses were in complete disarray. She honestly had no idea how she would be of any help, but after she had mentioned that she sat in on enough tactical battle lessons while her uncle Scott was alive, Sokka practically dragged her over to where he was formulating another plan against the Fire Nation.

"See, this is where we came in on the last time, but they would expect that if we tried it again. But I figure if we come around from the back…" he began indicating the places on the map.

"That won't work." N'Dare shook her head in disagreement. "This terrain looks to difficult to reach on foot, and Appa would be spotted a mile away."

He looked back over the map, and soon realized the mistakes he had previously overlooked.

"You're right… it's good to finally have someone smart enough to help me plan out these things." He said, smiling at N'Dare. "It makes things- ahh!!!"

A steady stream of cold water doused Sokka and forced him to the ground. N'Dare looked down at the boy confused, until her eyes meet that of a fuming Katara.

"And what's that supposed to mean?! We have been helping you since the beginning!" Katara yelled, with her hands placed firmly on her hips. Aang was standing behind her, fighting desperately not to laugh at his friend.

"I didn't mean anything by it Katara." Sokka said.

"Yeah, I'll bet. Come on Aang, we should finish our training."

"I think we've trained enough for today Katara. Anyway, I told N'Dare that we could train today." Aang said excitedly.

N'Dare's eyes nearly lit up in glee. She had been waiting all day for her training, and she began to wonder if Aang had forgotten.

"Alright Aang, if you're sure. But this just mean will have to train a little extra next time." Katara relented. She could see how much this meant to Aang to train another air bender.

"You ready?"

"Totally! I've been waiting like forever for this." N'Dare rose to her feet and smiled towards Aang.

Over the last few days, Aang had been giving N'Dare lessons in air bending. He stated off small, trying not to overwhelm her. She told him that she didn't want him to take it easy on her, but just like Zuko, he underestimated her. On their second day of training, Aang wanted to split the session up between actually learning something and fun. He had taken her to the airball field, and by the look in her eyes, she was beyond confused. After explaining the rules of the game, Aang took his place on the far left pillar.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Aang yelled to her.

N'Dare was a little bit skeptical at first, but soon climbed up the pillar. She hadn't learned how to hover as of yet, but was determined to make that the first thing she mastered. Aang waited for her to get steady on her pillar before he brought the ball in front of him. This would be the funniest game he played in a long time. A mischievous grin was he only warning before he sent the hollowed ball hurdling towards her.

N'Dare was able to sense the air currents changing a split second before she realized that the ball was already heading in her direction. The first point went to Aang, and his victory dance was, in N'Dare's opinion, laughable. She was normally a competitive person, but with Aang, it didn't matter who won or lost, she simply enjoyed the moment. By the second round, she was more prepared. It was her turn to serve, and in doing so, it would give her the upper hand. She watched as Aang ready himself to send the ball back at her.

She needed the element of surprise if she wanted to score at least one point. Once she got attuned to the air currents around her, she sent the ball coasting on a jet stream of wind. Just as expected Aang easily returned her volley. The ball sailed past N'Dare, and it looked as though he would score another point, but N'Dare was far from done. N'Dare summoned the winds to her, and played an unseen game of tug with the air currents. A mere foot away from the goal ring, the ball switched its path and returned to the opened palm of N'Dare. Aang sat slightly amazed at the level that N'Dare was progressing in her air bending.

She smiled victoriously at her achievement, but not really taking the time to savior the moment, she still needed to score a point. He would be expecting for a repeat of what she had just done, and in order to keep him on his toes, she would have to think outside the box. Any kind of air bending he would be able to predict, but a dead on approach would be something that he wouldn't think would happen. She sent the ball toward him again, and before it could make its way halfway down the playing field, she was on the move.

N'Dare jumped expertly from one poll to the next, seemingly as if she was hovering over them. When the ball finally reached Aang, he was so caught off by her racing to him that he barely had time to recover. He caught the ball in a sphere of air, before sending it towards her goal ring. He was confused; she had left her goal wide opened as she ran on the outside polls heading directly towards him. Just as before, she altered the air currents that the ball was sailing on, and changed them to follow behind her, which the ball dutifully followed behind as if on some unseen leash.

A slow smirk appeared on her face, she had him just where she wanted him. She summoned the ball into her hands, and leapt several feet in the air. Aang lifted his head in amazement, but the glare of the sun blocked his vision. While Aang covered his eye sight, N'Dare took the opportunity to send the ball sailing through the hoop. She landed on the pillar directly in front of him, with a gleeful smile etched on her face.

"Ha! I scored, I scored! I am soooo good." She celebrated.

Aang watched as for the first time, N'Dare gave a real smile and laughed fully. She finally seemed like she was moving on from her previous night's revelation. He was happy that he was a part of her happiness, and to have her enjoy the game as much as he did. But still, that wouldn't stop him from teasing her slightly.

"You only scored one point!" he said in mock anger.

By scoring that point, N'Dare wanted to prove that she wasn't to be taken lightly, not even in a simple game. Hence forth, during their training, Aang always treated her as an equal, no quarter given and none taken. After Aang had gotten dressed from his water bending lesson with Katara, he made his way to the training area. N'Dare was waiting patiently for him to arrive, dressed in what she still continued to call her training outfit.

Katara had offered her more of her clothing to wear while she trained, but still N'Dare refused. She said that it reminded her of when she used to train with Rachel and Elizabeth. Katara realized that it held more sentimental value than anything else, and didn't push the issue any further. On the other hand, Sokka always seemed to appreciate N'Dare's training uniform, and made it a point to set in on every training session, pretty much all of them did. It was rare to see two living, breathing air benders practice, and no one wanted to miss out on it.

Even Zuko braved the wrath of Katara, and sat in to watch the only 'friend' he had there, train. He still was a little uncomfortable around the others, but he wanted to make sure a repeat of N'Dare's other sparring session didn't arise. He watched as N'Dare stretched, as she waited for Aang to prepare. His feelings for her were becoming confused. He knew that he liked her as a person and even as a friend, and that he could trust her, but there was something more. The last few days hadn't been the easiest for him. He always knew that the avatar and his friends would never just accept him and the spot, but he didn't think they would show so much animosity.

He had yet to get around to actually training Aang. Every time he thought he had gain enough courage to ask, he would always chicken out after seeing the look on Katara's face. He realized sooner or later he would have to simple give in and face his fears, but at the moment, he felt no inclination to.

He couldn't really blame them tough, he did try to kill them a couple of times. The only one that didn't seem to hate every fiber of him was the blind girl Toph. While she didn't completely accept him, she at least gave him the courtesy of speaking with him. The young girl was wise beyond her youthful years, and once he got to know her, he discovered that she was actually pretty nice, well once you got beyond her rough exterior.

But N'Dare was his only real companion. She was the one who kept him sane during the last few days. More than once he questioned what he was doing here? How could he have turned his back on everything he had known, on his people and his country? And for what, those who didn't even want his help? He thought himself foolish at times, just as weak as he father always told him he was. But when he would think that he must have truly lost his mind, N'Dare would be there to remind him what it was he was there for.

He was there to right the wrongs that he had committed, to make peace with his past so that he could look forward to his future. She had a calming effect of him, one that he wasn't sure how she achieved. While at times she could be forceful, and maybe even a little bit bossy, she was always honest and compassionate. And there in lays the problem, her character, no her personality, was bearing down on him so hard, that he didn't believe he could handle it.

She made him feel like he didn't have anything to prove, that was a feeling that he had longed for ever since the loss of his mother that he thought he would never again regain. No one other than his uncle ever made him feel that way. Mai was there for him, she loved him, and he undoubtedly loved her, but there was always this feeling that even she expected something of him. That was why he always kept others at an arm length away, well at least until recently. He was brought out of his musing when he heard Aang call out.

"Alright N'Dare, I want you to try and attack me… but without moving from that spot." Aang instructed.

"Alright…" she was unaware at the moment how she was going to do that.

Admittedly she had gotten better with her bending, but not even she believed she had picked it up that quickly. She positioned herself in the pose that Aang had taught her during their last training session. She had to concentrate, to focus on getting this right. She stood there, motionless, focusing her mind on the task at hand, trying to reshape the air around her into doing her bidding. She was once again able to feel the ebb and flow of the air around her, drawing themselves closer to her body.

The others watched in silence as Aang and N'Dare stared facing one another. The two didn't seem to be doing much of anything, other than standing. It had been well over a century since two airbenders actually trained together, so neither of them knew if this was simply how things went or what, all they were able to do was sit and watch. A slightly gust of wind passed by N'Dare, slightly rustling her hair, and was the only precursor to the gale force winds that followed.

The blast of wind that rushed towards Aang was powerful, something that he really wasn't expecting at this stage in her training. Though as powerful as it was, he had managed to deflect it without serious effort.

"That was really good. Now I want to see if you can keep it up. Trying doing the same thing, but instead of one short burst, I want you to hold it."

"I'll try."

She fell back into her position, and focused once more. This would require more concentration on her part, and Aang was more than aware of that. Bending the air for a brief second was a lot easier than maintaining it. This would be a test to see rather or not she was ready to move on to the next lesson. As before she felt the air change, and as before her vision adjusted to reflect the changes, but this time there was a difference. She could feel something growing, an almost insatiable yearning of power within her that begged to be released. And when she extended her palm outward, a hurricane force wind erupted from her.

Caught off guard by the sudden influx of the winds, Aang pulled out his staff, and jumped in the air, bringing it down in full force, causing the battering ram of air to split in two on either side of him. Everyone watched in amazement at the display before them. N'Dare managed to create a wind just as strong as anything Aang had ever done. It was somewhat disconcerting witnessing her do something so advanced in such a short period of time, but Aang couldn't be happier.

"WOW! That was great, I was barely able to block that one." He said excitedly as he raced over towards her.

Though N'Dare wanted to join him in his excitement, the strain from using that much power left her a little weak at the moment.

"Thanks, I didn't know I could do something like that." She answered honestly.

Whipping the sweat from her brow, N'Dare glanced into the eyes of her new 'master'. The pride she saw in them left her humbled, almost to the point of bowing. This was so much different from her training with Elizabeth, Aang seemed more attentive and just as excited about everything as she did. She felt honored that Aang was helping her learn to control her gifts, but for some unmistakable reason, she couldn't help but think that she was helping him also.

"I think you're ready for the next step." Aang said confidently.

"What? I mean I just barely got over this one. How can I be ready for another?" it wasn't that she didn't trust his judgment, she just didn't want to rush into anything and have another episode.

"Yeah, don't you think you guy should take a break? You've been practicing for over an hour." Katara intervened.

"I agree with her. N'Dare, I think you're pushing yourself to hard, and after the last time, I don't think this would be the right thing to do." Zuko spoke up.

He had become increasingly protective over the last few days, to N'Dare's chagrin. He wasn't about to let her get hurt just so Aang could have someone to play with.

"I'm fine Zuko, I can handle it." N'Dare said slightly irritated.

"But-"

Before Zuko could finish his sentence, Aang cut him off.

"Trust me, if you're able to do that, it'll be a piece of cake for you to learn everything else."

Looking over Aang shoulder towards Zuko, N'Dare caught the other teen's eye. She could see that he was trying to protect her, and though she was faltered that he cared, this was something she needed to do. She couldn't quit because he was sacred she might get hurt, if she were to quit, then it wouldn't be her safety that he would have to worry about, it would be everyone else.

"Alright Aang, if you think I'm ready, then let's go." After agreeing to continue training with Aang, N'Dare walked over to the sullen faced Zuko.

"And don't worry so much Zuko, I'll be fine."

"Not if you lose control again. You nearly killed yourself the last time." he said solemnly.

"That was different. Last time I didn't have nearly as much control as I do now, and Aang is here to help me."

"I still don't think you should be doing this right now." Zuko crossed his arms in a defensive posture and looked away from N'Dare.

"Aww… you really are worried, aren't you? That's really sweet Zuko, but trust me, I'll be fine." She watched as his face turn several shades darker with his blushing, before making her way to the training area. Before getting to far out of hearing range, she slyly through a comment over her shoulder to the over concerned Zuko. "And has anyone ever told you how cute you are when you pout?" she giggled as his blushed deepened.

Zuko was left standing in place, watching N'Dare walk away still giggling. She had called him cute. No one had ever called him cute before, well other than Mai. Yep, his feelings for this girl were defiantly getting confused.

"Did you and your girlfriend have a nice little chat?"

The question startled him, and he nearly snapped his neck turning around to see who had asked it. The person standing behind him was the one he least expected, Toph. She didn't strike him as the type to eavesdrop on other people's conversation.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." He said, trying to feign ignorance.

"Sure you don't. But you do know it's not very smart to lie to a person who can feel the vibrations your bodies make when you don't tell the truth…" though she could not see him, she made it a point to look pointedly in his eye. "And right now, my feet tell me you're lying, and if your heart beats any louder I'll go deaf."

Zuko stared open mouthed at the young girl before him. He was always somewhat curious how she was able to fight so well and be blind, but if what she said was true, that would explain her ablates. All that being said, he still wasn't about to admit she was right.

"Whatever…" was his only response as he made his way to the training area.

The area that Aang and N'Dare would be training in was immense. It was a standered training circle with two areas for the opposing people. The ring was set off to the side of the temple, overlooking the caverns below. Had she not been there to train, N'Dare would have simply marveled at the majesty of the view.

Though she was tired, N'Dare wasn't willing to throw in the towel just yet. It had always been one of her defining traits, to never give up when she set her mind to something, even when her body screamed for her to relent. Rotating her shoulders to relax the aches she could feel forming away, she readied herself for her most challenging training session yet.

On the other side of the area, Aang gauged to see if she was really ready for this. He wouldn't be going as easy on her as he had in the past. He wanted to see how good she really was, and how she would respond to actual combat. If she would be joining them, she had to be prepared for anything, and he would see to it that she was.

Without warning, N'Dare was on the offensive. She raced to the opposite end of the field, bo staff at the ready. He heart was beating a mile and minute, but she had never felt so excited in her life. This was all she had dreamed of since she was a small child, to train and use powers that were gifted to her. Racing faster than she had ever done, she reached Aang, and at the last second, she jumped into the air.

Brining her staff down with all her strength, she watched knowingly as Aang dodged out of its path. Her initial attack was simply to throw him off balance and give herself the upper hand. While Aang may have been an expert airbender, N'Dare was an expert fighter, trained by some of the best in her world. When she had landed, she wasted no time before charging him again. In the beginning the match was going solely her way, Aang had not gained the upper hand at all, but she had lost track of what this lesson was about.

Aang was beyond impressed with N'Dare's fighting capabilities. Over the last few months, he had fought several people who were skilled not only in the art of bending, but also in basic hand to hand combat, but she outshined them all. The speed at which she moved was staggering and the efficiency of her attacks were prominent. The only problem was that her fighting hand to hand wasn't the purpose of the session, so he would have to remind her of what was.

Noticing his sloppy stance, N'Dare took this as an opportunity to strike. Rushing towards him, she was preparing to deliver a swift kick to his midsection, just to knock the wind out of him, but was surprised to find the wind knocked out of her, literally. While bringing her leg up for her attack, Aang forced her back with a powerful air blast. The strength of the attack sent the Wakandian Princess several feet back. Her sailing came to an end when her back was met by a stone wall. Those watching sucked in a breath thinking of the pain that must have caused, but none made a move to intervene, none but Zuko.

"Hey!!!" Zuko stood on his feet preparing to walk onto the field and ask Aang what was he thinking.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked suspicious of Zuko's advancement.

"What does it look like? I'm going down there and ask why he's trying to kill her." He said as simple as day.

"He's not going to kill her, he's just testing to see what she can do." Sokka voiced.

"He just threw her into a wall! How can you just set here and let him beat up on her like that?" he was growing angry, he could tell, but why wouldn't they want to stop Aang from hurting someone. Unless there was something that he wasn't picking up on, he was about to make his way down there, and show the avatar what a real fight was like.

"Aang wouldn't do anything to hurt innocent people. And I'm sure he wouldn't do anything to hurt your friend. Their training, and unless you live and a make believe world, people sometimes get a little ruffed up in trainings." She didn't make eye contact with him, keeping her eyes trained on the fight in front of her, but she could feel Zuko's eyes burning into the side of her face. Fine, he would just sit back and watch, but the moment this got out of hand, he would put a stop to it.

As N'Dare pulled herself from the ground, her mind began to swim. That was a pretty powerful air blast, but it was her own fault, she was supposed to be practicing her air bending, not fighting skills. Some habits were just simply too hard to knock, but she was sure that she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. When her vision cleared completely, she picked up her staff, and continued her assault, one way or another she would get a hit in.

Aang stood his ground as N'Dare made her way towards him, watching her feet as she progressed. He was surprised to see her suddenly alter her course, before he realized what she was doing. Sliding to a halt, N'Dare threw her hands forward causing a massive battering ram of air to race towards Aang. The boy managed to dodge the attack, but only barely. Of course she was getting better with each passing session, but this was impressive. She sent current after current of air sailing in his direction, and if it hadn't been for the years of training that he had, he doubted that he would be able to keep up his evasive actions for long.

She was actually holding her own at this point, even managing to keep Aang on the defensive with air bending attacks, but the constant use was wearing on her. Aang on the other hand needed a diversion, something that she wouldn't be able to anticipate or sense. An idea soon came to mind, while he was training her in the art of air bending, he was also training her to be prepared to defend herself from any attacker that they may come across.

While the two of them were the only airbenders left in the world, there were still others who would come after them that could do more than airbend. After deflecting an air current away from him, Aang took a more solid stance, bringing his feet squarely with his shoulder. The others watched in confusion as Aang's stance changed, but Toph was able to sense what it was he was planning. She didn't think that twinkle toes had it in him, but it seemed she was wrong.

N'Dare twisted the air currents around her once again, focusing them on her objective before sending them to do her bidding. The current was on target, heading directly towards her opponent, yet he made no attempt to deflect it. Aang watched and waited before making his move, and once he was able to feel the air shift around him, he acted. Bringing his foot down forcibly on the ground, he raised his palms upwards, following his hand movement; the earth beneath his feet mimicked his every move.

When he was finished, a solid barrier of rock and stone was separating him from the air that was heading in his direction. The stream of air collided harmlessly with the rock, leaving Aang unmoved. N'Dare watched as her attack had no effect, and stood muted on the spot. She was confused as to why Aang was using another form of bending, and if he was in fact planning on using all the bending at his disposal, then she would have to chance in fighting back.

While she stood there contemplating Aang's action, he in turn took to the offensive. Smashing through his stone construct, he barreled forth, using the air itself to propel him faster. A fountain resting a few feet away was his next target. With a flick of his hand, a stream of crystal liquid floated to his outstretched arms. N'Dare's eyes widen in shock as her teacher was doing everything in his power to defeat her.

Katara watched as Aang used the water whip to keep N'Dare at bay, and while she was impressed that his water bending skills had improved, she was also a little surprised at his actions. He was using far more advanced attacks than N'Dare was used to and he was making no effort to halt them. Had Zuko taught him fire bending, she was sure that he would be using that to. Though Aang was being more aggressive then she had ever seen him before, she still believed that he wouldn't do anything to hurt the girl he was training with.

He was throwing everything he had at her, yet she was still able to evade him. Her ability to dodge was commendable, but he wanted her to attack back. She was at a standstill, not fully knowing what she could do to regain her root. He was more proficient at air bending than she was so whatever she threw at him, he would be able to deflect. Though she was capable of taking him on hand to hand, there was no way that she could get close enough with him shifting the earth beneath her feet and sending wave after wave of water at her.

Her options were becoming thin, and her stamina was wearing out, if she didn't do something soon, she would lose, and that was not an option. She looked down at her staff in her hand, and remembered the night her Uncle Remy had given it to her. He had told her that the staff was designed and created by her Uncle Henry, and that it was far more advanced than any other. To that fact she could attest to, she could recall the day that Wakanda had fallen, and when the sentinel unleashed a destructive blast upon her and Rachael. In an attempt to save her life, the staff responded by putting up a force field, protecting those within.

But a force field would do her no good at this moment, she need something far more aggressive than that. There was another aspect to the staff that she could remember. It was hollowed out and fitted with minor explosives, used more for distraction than anything else, and she could remember her mother chiding her Uncle Remy for giving her something so dangerous. All she needed to do was get Aang to stop for a second, giving her the opportunity to attack. Racing to the ledge overlooking the forest, she baited her aggressor towards her by sending another strong wave of air towards him.

Aang approached her as she was cornered on the ledge. She had given a good effort, considering all the forms of bending her threw her way. He was about to congratulate her on her efforts, when a wicked smile spread across her lips. She hurled her staff towards him, and he swiftly bent the air, causing it to plunge in the dirt between them. Without warning, a explosion rocked the ledge, but N'Dare's joy was short lived.

The force from the blast caused a fissure to form on the ledge, splitting it in two. Unfortunately, the side that she was on had no support. Aang watched with horrid eyes as the earth beneath her feet began to crumble away, unable to move. The expression on her face melted form joy to horror, as she began to fall to her death. The group watching, immediately ran forward, hoping that somehow this wasn't happening. Zuko ran ahead of the group, his emotions flipping between anguish and rage.

Finally snapping out of his stupor, Aang moved to catch N'Dare before it was too late, but he was already seconds too late to do any good. He fell to his knees, shocked at what just happened, until someone tackled him from behind.

"What did you do?!" Zuko roared in his ear.

"Zuko, get off him!" Katara said menacingly. Though she was upset about what just happened, she wasn't about to let Zuko harm Aang in anyway.

"He killed her!" the fire in Zuko's eyes burned deep into Aang's.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean…"

A howling wind rushed over the ledge, forcing Zuko off of Aang. The others covered their eyes, trying to keep the dirt out. It came as a shock to Zuko when the air forced him off, but he wasn't the only on surprise. From the look on Aang's face, he had nothing to do with it, but if it wasn't him, then who? Shooting from the cavern beneath, N'Dare soared over the cliff on the wings of the wind. The jubilation of this act made her face glow, before it changed to calm. She hovered the few feet towards the fallen airbender, using the wind to summon her staff to her.

Aang was caught in awe, looking at N'Dare hover there, when not five seconds ago he thought her dead. He noticed how the wind played with her unbound hair, and how even though her face was calm and cool, the twinkle in her eyes alluded to how much joy she really was in. He watched as she summoned her staff to her, bringing it to rest a few inches from his face.

"I win." Were her victorious words, before the once dormant smile returned to her beautiful face.

A/N: Another chapter completed. It was a long time coming and really hard in the beginning to decided where I wanted to take this chapter, but it paid off. I'm hoping to get a lot of things done, as soon as I get my new desktop. But until then, please bare with me.


	13. Moments

**Of Mutants and Benders**

**By: Orionstorm04**

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men I only own the original idea and my OC's.

Another installment! I've mentioned in a previous update that I was adding two new stories to my name, and I did. It's great, because now I don't have to cycle between two stories. That was one of the reasons for lack of updates, I would always get a slight writers block when I had to go from one story to the other, then back to the one that I just updated. Now with four to concentrate on, it's easier for me to keep the creative juices flowing. I would like to give a huge thanks to all of those who review; you really know how to keep a person motivated. And to all of those who don't leave a review, my only question is why? You can contribute so much by leave a simple review, come on people, let's help each other out.

**Moments**

She had never felt more alive than she did at this exact moment. As she soared a few feet over the Air Temple, she could feel every aspect of the winds around her. It was as if she was wrapped in a living blanket, supporting her as she tumbled through the air. She never would have imagined it would be this good, when she thought of all the times she wished that she had powers. As she hovered in place for a few scant seconds, she could see everything in the horizon. As the rays of the sun bathed her face in its warmth, she smiled. Her joy was insurmountable, and the winds surrounding her reflected that joy by lifting her several more feet in the air.

As she twirled in midair, unbeknownst to her she had acquired an audience of one. Zuko sat on a pile of rubble and watched N'Dare from the ground. He was still amazed at the level she had reached in such a short amount of time. He had never come across someone who took to their bending as naturally as she did, but maybe therein lays the problem. According to her, this wasn't really bending, but a physically manifestation of her natural connections to the wind.

It was still kind of hard to believe that she wasn't from this world. Sure, he had heard of the spirit world, but another plane of existence all together was something a little farfetched for him to grasp. Though that would explain a lot about her physical characteristics, such as her skin color for instance, which still caught his eye. It wasn't in a bad way though, on the contrary, he rather liked it. He liked the way her skin would almost turn russet during the setting sun, or how she could stay in the sun for hours on end and her skin only seemed to glow instead of burn. There was a lot to like about her, and the longer he was around her; the more he found that her presence was intoxicating.

Noticing that he was thinking far too deeply about his new acquaintance, he shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts that raced through his mind. Day after day, he found himself more attentive to her. He was starting to worry that maybe he had gone soft during recent events. While he knew that he had to help the avatar that still didn't mean that he was prepared to just allow anyone into his inner circle. He had been hurt far too many times by doing something as rash as that.

"If you stare at that spot any longer, you'll burn a hole through it… wait, can you do something like that?"

Snapping his head up, he spotted N'Dare hovering a few feet ahead of him. He watched as that slow smile she seemed to prefect makes its way across her beautiful face. Windswept as she was, he had never seen a girl so…

"I was just thinking. You seemed to have gotten better with your bending." He stopped his train of thought before it was able to get away from him yet again.

"Yeah, Aang's been a great teacher. You have no idea how wonderful this feels to be whole." She spread her arms out to the side as the wind danced across her skin.

He could see the joy on her face, and that in turned made him smile. There was something infectious about her smile, every time he saw it, he wanted to smile to, and coming from a guy who rarely smiled before this point, that was saying something.

"I can guess. So how long are you going to be training for today?" she had been up since before sunrise, and now it was almost noon and she showed no signs of slowing down.

"I can do this all day!" with those words, she shot into the air, performing barrel rolls and making loops in the sky. She was making her way over the fountain, when she misjudged the amount of lift she would need to pull out of the dive, and splashed into the water.

Worried that she may have hurt herself, Zuko dashed to make sure she was alright. When he got there, he found a laughing N'Dare sitting comfortable in the cool water. He had never seen her really laugh before, and he decided that he liked it.

"Did you see that?" she said between her laughs.

"Yeah, are you alright? You landed pretty hard there." He reached over to help her out of the fountain. With a wicked smile on her face, she got a most devilish idea. When Zuko's hand grasped hers, she pulled with all her might, causing the young Fire Nation prince to fall directly on side of her.

N'Dare laughed even harder when Zuko broke the surface, head dripping wet and spurting out water from his mouth. She could tell that he was a little surprised by her sneak attack, but there was no anger at all in his eyes.

"What did you do that for?" he asked in mock anger.

"You looked kind of hot, so I thought I would cool you down." She said as she splashed water in his face.

"Oh now you're going to pay!"

The two were pit in a water fight for the next twenty minutes. Neither one could recall the last time they had this much fun. Growing up, Zuko never really had a childhood. He was raised to be the perfect prince of the Fire Nation, never being able to indulge in childish games.

While N'Dare had a normal childhood, or as close to normal as one could get in a world where nearly all of mankind was whipped out, she still couldn't think of when she was this happy. She had her powers returned to her, she was moving on, and finally accepting that her family's death was not her fault, and to top it all off, she was gaining close friendships in the process. Zuko was a godsend to her when she thought that if she fell, then she would not be able to pull herself back up.

After the night that she revealed her secret to them, he had not once left her side. He held her as she cried for all that she had lost, and in the following days, he showed her that she wasn't alone anymore and that he would help her overcome this. Their relationship began to grow from that point on, and soon they became increasingly comfortable around each other.

As she treaded through the water to escape his new barrage of water attacks, she felt his arms grip her from behind. The momentum and weight of his body caused them to fall into the ankle deep pool. With him covering her, he looked down with a genuine smile.

"Do you give up?"

"You cheated!" she laughed as she thrashed against him.

"Admit it, you lost. Now give up. As victor of this battle, my concessions must be met."

"And what would your demands of me be, Oh Great Fire Lord?" she barely contained her laughter as she looked up at him. The playful gleam left Zuko's eyes at the title she placed on him. It instantly brought thoughts of his father, and all that he had abandon.

Realizing her mistake only moments after it had slipped from her mouth, N'Dare looked closely at him. She could see the slight pain that passed across his eyes, and soon regretted her loose tongue. It was still a sensitive topic for him, just as her family was for her. But as he said that he would be there for her, she too would be there for him.

"Zuko…" she called out to him, trying to make him look at her. When he didn't move to answer her, she placed her hands on each side of his face, forcing him to make eye contact with her. "Look at me."

When he looked down into her eyes, all he saw was sheer compassion. He had never had anyone but his mother and uncle look at him with such honest care. The emotions that he could feel coming from him left him frozen in her silver gaze, as her hands continued to hold his cheeks.

"I don't want you to fall back into yourself okay? You don't have to shoulder this alone… I'm here." She whispered to him. "We're not alone anymore, remember? We have friends now, people who will help us if we need it."

He looked to her with mirth before answering her.

"Maybe you do, but they hate me." There was no denying the fact that not everyone was thrilled that Zuko would be joining their little group, but they all took it in stride. She had tried to convince him that it would take time for them to come around to him, and once they warmed up, then he would have no problems making friends. But it wasn't in Zuko's nature to think like that, so it was up to her to change his perspective of the situation.

"For now, I guess you're right. But you're forgetting one thing…"

"What?" he asked confused.

"Me…" she leaned in dangerously close to his face, noses almost touching. "No matter what happens from this point on, I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me pal, so get used to it." Smiling from ear to ear, she placed a chastity kiss on his forehead before flipping him off of her.

Zuko watched with bewildered eyes as she got out of the fountain. Her ability to bend wasn't the only thing that she was fast at. She had managed to slip behind his entire emotional defenses and situated herself comfortably within his personal space. It was amazing at how she managed to bring the once stoic Zuko down to earth, and even had him playing water fights with her in fountains. He watched as she wrung her hair before calling a breeze to finish the rest. Her control wasn't to the point that she could dry herself entirely, but it was enough to keep her from remaining soaked and wet.

"So what do you have planned for today, other than playing in the water with me that is?" She threw over her shoulder at him.

"Well, I think it's maybe time for me to start training Aang, but I don't know…" he had been trying to work up the courage to approach him, but always fell short.

"What's there to not know? That is why you came here right, to train him in fire bending?" she watched as he hesitated for a moment before shaking his head in the affirmative. "Well then do it."

"It's not that simple. I don't think they trust me enough to let me get anywhere near him without one of them being around."

"Well then you have to make them trust you. It's about time Zuko that you got over whatever it is that's making you afraid to do your job. Don't worry about rather or not they think you'll kill him once you're alone with him. Only worry about the task at hand, which is preparing him for his destiny."

"That's easy for you to say."

"And it's easy for you to do; you just keep making it harder." She walked over and stood directly in front of him. "Stop doubting yourself and just do what comes naturally."

"You have a lot of faith in me…" he was humbled by her thought of him. She really did believe that he was capable of doing such things, even though he wasn't sure that he could.

"You bet you fiery butt I do. Not get out there and train the boy." She gave him a playful slap on the butt for good measure.

The blush that colored his cheeks would put the purest hue of red to shame. He had never come across a girl with such mannerisms before, and doubted that he ever would again. N'Dare was special, and in more ways than one. Out of all the things that had happened to him since leaving his home behind, she was without a doubt the number one.

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After drying off from his play fight with N'Dare, Zuko went looking for Aang. He found him in the main hall of the temple, grooming Appa, as Katara and the others talked from their seats.

"We have to do something Aang, the comet will be here in a few months, and we still haven't gotten you prepared to fight the Fire Lord." Katara was beginning to worry that maybe things wouldn't turn out as great as she had hoped.

"Everything will be fine Katara. Aang'll master firebending, we'll beat the Fire Nation, and the world will be saved." Sokka said, as he tried to pull the piece of seal jerky away from Momo.

"How can you be so confident about all of this Sokka, especially after what happen on the Day of Black Sun? Our forces were whipped out in less than four hours."

"Chill out Katara. The only reason why we lost was because Azula knew about our plan. This time, all we have to do is attack when they least expect it." It irked him that his sister reminded him about their failure during the Day of Black Sun. It was more than a failure for the cause; it was a personal failure for him.

"I'm with Sokka, I say we bust our way in there and kick some butt!" Toph was never a girl to shy away from anything, especially a fight.

"It figures you'd agree with him." Katara said. It was amazing at how alike those two were.

"None of that will matter…" Aang had finally spoken up.

"What do you mean it won't matter Aang?" Katara didn't like the look in his eyes, it always spelled trouble.

"It won't matter because this time, I'll be going alone."

Zuko had heard enough. None of them realized how much things had changed over the last few days. His father wouldn't be foolish enough to think that everything was over after the last invasion, and had no doubt doubled his security in the waking attack.

"No you're not." As Zuko stepped forward, every head turned in his direction.

"What are you doing here Zuko?" Katara spat.

"This isn't just about you." He ignored her question and directed his statement to Aang. "We all have a stake in this war. Some of us more than others…" his personal interest in this battle was apparent to anyone there.

"He's right…" N'Dare made her way into the hall, once again dressed in the few scrapes of clothing that she had. Katara had given her a few things to put on, but none of it fit her correctly and was more of a constraint than actual clothes. "True, the whole world is counting on you. But you have to realize that there are people here that you can count on." She looked pointedly at Katara.

While she had only been with the group a few days, she was able to see the budding relationship between the two benders. It was so obvious how they felt for each other, but it seemed that neither one had confessed their feelings to the other.

"But I don't think…" Aang began to protest, before N'Dare cut him off.

"Don't think, know. We are not about to let you do this alone Aang, so you can forget it."

"I'm with her." For the first time since meeting the other girl, Katara finally was able to agree with her on something.

"Count me in." Sokka said as he put his arms around his sister and N'Dare.

"Me too." there was no way that Zuko would back away from this.

"I don't have nothing planned." Toph piped in as she cleaned some dirt out of her ear.

Aang watched with silent gratitude as his friends forced their help on him. Every one of them was willing to sacrifice so much just so he could fulfill his destiny and restore balance to the world. And while all of them had their own personal reasons for doing so, he couldn't help but know that they were also doing it for him as well. The two newest member of the group were the ones to stick out in his mind the most.

He knew that Katara, Sokka and Toph would always be there to help him if he needed it. But N'Dare and Zuko were a surprise that he was beginning to enjoy with each day. N'Dare was someone who he could relate to. She had lost everyone she had ever known, and was the last of her people. In their common loss, they shared common understanding.

Zuko was more of a consolation prize to the group. None of them really trusted his action, and never allowed him an inch, out of fear that he would betray them at a moment's notice. Had it not been for N'Dare's reassurance, then they most likely wouldn't have allowed him to stay. While Aang was a person that forgave easily, he wasn't sure that he would ever truly trust the fire bender. But if today was any indication of his new found rehabilitative attitude, then maybe there was hope for them yet.

Looking at all of them before him, Aang agreed. He couldn't do this on his own, he needed his friends.

"Alright, let's do this." They all smiled as he agreed to let them help him.

"Are you ready to start training then?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah… I think I am."

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They decided to hold their training in a separate part of the temple. After Aang's last attempt at fire bending, he was prepared to harm another friend. Understanding his position, Katara and the others didn't object, though she was still cautious about Zuko's motives, she respected Aang enough to know when to give him his space.

As Aang sat a listen to Zuko explain the nature of fire bending, he couldn't help but notice the similarities to the other styles of bending. All of their bending was fuel by their passions, what drove them to want to excel in life. It was strange how four separate elements could be so similar. Perhaps Guru Pathik was right, maybe the separations between the four elements were an illusion.

"Fire bending isn't something to be afraid of in and of itself… but disrespect it and it will chew you up and spit you out." Zuko capped of his explanation of the art of fire bending. "Now I want you to show me what you can do. Any amount of fire you can produce will be okay."

Aang stood from his sit and took the stance Zuko showed him earlier. With his feet planted firmly on the ground, she extended his fist. A small spark of flame, accompanied by a puff of smoke was the result of his efforts. Aang looked dismally at the lame attempt at fire bending.

"Maybe a demonstration would be better." He said, looking at Zuko.

"Yeah, maybe your right, stand back." Zuko waited until Aang was a good distance away perfume readying himself. Controlling his breathing, as he had been taught to do, she forced his fist outwards. Instead of his usual ball of fire, the only thing that came out was a pathetic display of fire. Zuko looked at his fist in confusion, unable to understand why his bending wasn't working properly.

"What was that? That was the worst display of fire bending I have ever seen."

"I thought it was good…" Aang tried to reassure his new 'master'.

"Don't patronize me, you know what it's supposed to look like!" he didn't mean to yell, but this was starting to worry him slightly.

"Well maybe it's the altitude."

"Yeah… maybe…"

Deciding to take their training to the lower caverns of the cliff, Zuko tried again. But as like last time, the effects were the same. Everything that he tried, it was no use, his bending simply was working. It was like it had abandoned him, but that was impossible. Bending didn't just disappear, there had to be something else to it. Ending their session earlier, Zuko left to be on his own to think. Something was missing inside of him, and until he got it fixed, he wouldn't be any help to anyone.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Aang arrived back at the temple, N'Dare was slightly worried.

"Where's Zuko?"

"I don't know, he said something about going for a walk."

"How was your first lesson?" Katara was anxious to know how things had gone.

"I really can't say."

"What do you mean? Didn't Zuko show you anything today?"

"Well he tried, but something was wrong…"

"Did he try to hurt you?" Katara's blood ran cold. She knew that she couldn't trust him.

"No, nothing like that…" he waved his hands wildly. "He was having trouble with his bending is all."

"What kind of trouble? He isn't hurt is he?" N'Dare concern for him began to soar. She knew something was bothering him as of late, but couldn't really figure out what.

"No, I'm fine…" came Zuko's voice. "But we do have a problem. I lost my stuff…"

"Don't look at me; I didn't take your stuff." Toph said from the campfire.

"No, my fire bending, it think I lost my fire bending."

"hahaha…" everyone turned their head towards Katara who was giggle. "Oh, I was just laughing at the irony. You know, how good it would have been for us if you lost your bending a long time ago."

"Maybe it's because I joined you guys?" he reasoned. That was his only clue at the moment as to what could be the cause of his bending disappearing.

"That's ridiculous." Katara murmured.

"I don't know, maybe he's right." N'Dare said as she made her way closer to Zuko. "Before, your bending seemed to be fueled by your rage. And since you joined the avatar, maybe you don't have enough of it to sustain your bending."

Sokka stood up with his sword in his hand. "So all you're saying is that we have to make Zuko angry? That will be no problem." Using his sheathed sword, Sokka began to poke Zuko in his side and head, hoping to aggravate the teen.

"Would you quite it?!" he yelled at Sokka. "And even if you're right, I don't want to let anger and hatred fuel my bending."

The group looked at Zuko in a new light. Maybe he had been telling the truth about his change. Even Katara had to look at him strangely; this was a side of Zuko that she didn't know existed.

"Maybe you should find a different source of bending then. My suggestion is the original."

"Would that mean Zuko jumping in a volcano?" Sokka laughed at his own joke.

"I don't know, if that's the original source. When I was a little girl, I ran away from home and found a cave. It was there that I learned how to earth bend. The badgermoles found me; they were blind just like me. I learned to use earth bending not only as a means to fight, but a way to interact with my environment so that I could see."

"I was taught by the monks, but the original airbenders were the sky bison. Maybe I can get a lesson from you buddy." He said to Appa.

"That's impossible, the original fire benders were the dragons, and they're extinct."

"What are you talking about? Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I grew up."

"Well there isn't anymore!" Zuko rose from his seat and began to walk away.

"Alright, alright, sorry." Aang tried to defuse the situation.

N'Dare watched as Zuko left the camp fire and made his way to the edge of the temple.

"He didn't mean anything by it Aang. I'm sure he's just upset is all." Excusing herself, she went after Zuko. "This is really bothering you, isn't it? I'm sure it's nothing, your most likely just tired."

"I don't think so. Lately, I've been feeling weird. Everything has changed in my life, and I don't know how to handle it." He slammed his fist of the balcony overlooking the rest of the temple.

"You'll have to deal with it." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Aang is counting on you to teach him fire bending, you can't let him down."

Watching from afar, Aang noticed the familiarity that Zuko and N'Dare shared. It was something that he had seen before, with him and Katara. The way that N'Dare would comfort Zuko reminded him so much of how Katara helped him out in the beginning of their travels. Well he wouldn't let her bear the sole responsibility of helping Zuko, besides he was his master after all.

"Zuko…" hearing Aang's voice, N'Dare and Zuko faced him. "We can figure out another way to learn fire bending."

Surprised that Aang was actually trying to help him, Zuko gave a soft smile to the younger boy. He was right about one thing, they would have to figure out another way to learn how to bend, or the avatar would have to find another teacher.

"Even though the original fire benders were the dragons there used to be this ancient civilization known as the Sun Warriors. They were the most skilled fire benders in the world."

"I know they weren't around a hundred years ago." Aang said.

"No, they died off centuries ago. But their civilization isn't that far from where we are now. Maybe if we go there, we can learn something from the ruins."

"It's worth a shot." Aang agreed.

"Then it's settled. You two can go to the Sun Warriors' city, and the rest of us will stay here."

"What?!" both said in unison.

"We don't want to tire Appa out by having him carry all of us to the city, and I don't think that I could fly the whole way there. Don't worry, everything will be alright here." She winked at them. "Aang, maybe you should tell the others about the trip, I don't want them ripping Zuko a new one for it." Aang reluctantly did as she said leaving Zuko and N'Dare alone.

"What are you thinking?! There is no way that this could be good." He looked at her. Had she completely lost her mind, suggesting that he take Aang alone to some hidden, dissertated city?

"Relax, and think about it. This will not only give you and Aang some time to get to know each other better, but I'll get to know the other guys as well. You have to admit Zuko, you and I only really talk to each other, with the exception of Aang. If we're going to be a group, we need to act like one."

She was right, he knew she was, but that still didn't mean he couldn't be nervous. One part of his brain said this would be a bad idea. While the other, more prominent part, couldn't help but think that this would actually bring him closer to getting the avatar and his friends to trust him more.

"Alright, but if the backfires, I'm holding you responsible."

Zuko made his way back inside the temple. It didn't seem as though Aang was having any better luck with convincing the others. After a while of yelling, Katara yielded, saying that if it would help Aang master fire bending, then it was a necessary evil. But again she warned Zuko to not make a step out of line, or there would be Hell to pay. The group saw Zuko and Aang off, only half hoping that things would work out. When Appa was out of sight, N'Dare looked at the Gaang.

"So… what do you guys do around here for fun?" she would hold true to her words and try as best as she could to become better acquainted with her new teammates.

To be continued…


	14. Author's Note

_**Attention:**_

Just a heads up to all of those who thought that I was MIA or dead. I'm alive!!! I know it's been a while since my last update, and for that I'm truly sorry. I was having problem at home with family that required my full attention. Now I'm back and ready to push out some serious work. Updates will come twice as often as they did before, and for that you have my word. I will try to publish as frequently as I can as long as my muse continues to inspire. Like I've said previously, reviews always keep me motivated and going strong. That's it for now. At the moment, I'm writing my update for this chapter and it should be done within the next day or so, so you shouldn't have that long to wait. Thanks for the support.

Orionstorm04


	15. Boiling Rock pt One

**Of Mutants and Benders**

**By: Orionstorm04**

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men I only own the original idea and my OC's.

A/N: Okay, I'm back and ready! This chapter and the next have been the ones that I have been eagerly waiting for since almost the beginning. This will be one of those chapters that follow the show almost to the letter, except of course being tweaked here and there to accommodate my OC. I'm so excited, because I'll get to showcase more of an interaction between Zuko and N'Dare, but this time in a fighting scenario. Though there is a drawback. At first I had thought that I would make this one chapter, but after I started to type it, I noticed that I would go far beyond 5000 words, so I decided to split it up into two. The second chapter will be posted a week after the first. Sorry if this disappoints anyone.

**Boiling Rock pt. 1**

As dawn began to creep its way over the horizon, Katara stood at the entrance to the air temple. Aang and Zuko had been gone since yesterday, and she was beginning to get worried. She knew that the Sun Warriors' village was a small distance away, but she had hoped they would have been back by now. As she paced back and forth, her mind returned to the previous night. She didn't believe Aang going alone with Zuko was a good idea, she even told Aang as such. But Aang had made it clear that it was the only way for him to master firebending. She had to at the very least agree with that. They were running out of time, with the comet only a few months away, their only hope left was Aang mastering the avatar state.

From his position inside the temple, Sokka could see the worry on his sister's face. She only got like this when Aang went off on his own, or when he was gone for longer than she would have expected. Since the invasion, they had all been on edge. The invasion… it was a moment permanently etched in Sokka's mind. During his moment of truth, he had failed, and horribly at that. He had planned everything down to the last detail, but still the Fire Nation was ready for them. He had to give Azula one thing, she was cunning.

Even though everyone tried to reassure him that it wasn't his fault, that he had done everything conceivable to plan for the Fire Nation attack, he still couldn't help but to blame himself for the outcome. And who were the ones to suffer because of his failure? Those who had put their trust and faith in him, who had believed that he knew what he was doing; they were the ones to pay the price. His father was amongst the rebels who had been captured. Just when he and his father had been reunited after years of separation, he was once again snatched away by the Fire Nation. This war seemed hell bent on destroying his family. First it was his mother, now he had undoubtedly lost his father to.

"Penny for your thoughts." the voice startled Sokka, but only momentarily. N'Dare walked up behind him where he stood watching Katara pace. Looking from the corner of her eye, she could see that he was deep in thought.

"I was just thinking." He reply was curt. Like his sister; he was still somewhat reluctant to fully trust Zuko or N'Dare. But his reasons stemmed from something other than betrayal. After enough time had gone by, and he really got to look at the new arrival, Sokka was able to piece together who it was that N'Dare reminded him of. It was subtle the similarities, things like her hair, that made her look like the first girl he ever loved. He had lost Yue only months ago, but the ache still burned as if it happened yesterday. N'Dare was of course a few shades darker, and the eyes weren't a match, but that hair. That same silvery white hair that seemed to act as a halo made it painfully obvious how much he really missed Yue.

"About what? You seem kind of out of it at the moment." N'Dare had been trying her best to get to know all of the members of the group. These people were the closest thing to friends she had at the moment, and if one of them was having a problem, she wanted to help.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about my dad." Sokka reluctantly gave in to her questioning.

"What about him?" N'Dare finally looked at Sokka. She could see that he was wrestling with whether or not to tell her. For a moment, she thought that maybe she had pushed too far, but before she could apologize Sokka took a deep sigh.

"During the invasion, we weren't able to get everyone out. Most of the rebels were captured… my dad was one of them." Sokka said, lowering his head in shame. "It was my fault, had I just cut my losses, maybe we could have made it to the subs in time. Then my dad wouldn't be a prisoner of the Fire Nation, if he's even still alive."

N'Dare only remembered bits and piece of that day, being that the pain in her side was excruciating. But what she could recall was complete and utter chaos. She could hear the explosions all the way in the prison cells, and once she stepped outside, she witnessed the evidence of that chaos. It was like a remake of the tragedy that struck Wakanda. Houses were destroyed, there was fighting happening almost simultaneously everywhere you looked. It was pure hell looking from the outside. She hadn't really thought of who may have been captured, since she knew none of them personally. But now she could see that this war had taken its toll on those involved.

"I can't imagine what you're going through Sokka. To lose your father like that…" she paused for a moment, thinking over her next words carefully. "I guess what I'm saying is, that you have a right to be upset. I can understand why you blame yourself." She said looking thoughtful for a second.

"Is this supposed to be helping?" When she first started talking, Sokka thought that she would say what all the others had tried to tell him a million times over. That it wasn't his fault, that he had done all he could. But this was unexpected; she was practically telling him that it was his fault.

"No, you misunderstand me…" N'Dare giggled. "What I'm saying is that I can relate. When my home was destroyed, I felt as though I had let everyone down, that it was all somehow my fault. But now that I think about it, I realize that there was nothing more that I could have done." It had taken N'Dare considerable time to grasp that aspect of the situation, but now she was sure that it was the truth. "I'm not saying that it gets any easier, or that it will hurt less with time. I just think that you should understand that no matter how much you beat yourself up over it, it won't change the fact that it happened."

"I know that." Sokka said. And he did, he knew that he had done everything he could, but it still hurt. "I just wish that there was something more that I could do, you know?"

"That feeling won't go away anytime soon either. My only advice would be that you learn to live with it." N'Dare said as she began to tighten the sash around her waist.

"I guess you're right… wait, you didn't have that on before." It was only then that Sokka noticed that she had finally changed her clothes. She wasn't wearing one of Katara's dresses, nor was she wearing her old clothes. What she had on now more resembled Aang's clothes. The flowing robes were in the colors of the air nomads, with the orange covering her chest with a yellow undershirt. The deep red sash tied around her waist securing her trousers. All in all, it looked pretty good on her.

"No, I found these in the temple. Of course all they had were boy sizes, so I had to make some changes." She examined herself for a moment before asking. "Do you like it, or should I just stick with what I had before?"

"It's fine I guess." Sokka said somewhat unimpressed.

"But? I can feel a but coming…" she looked at him questioningly.

"I preferred you in what you had on before. It looked like it was easier to maneuver in." he teased her. He could see by the look in her eye that she understood exactly what he meant by that statement.

"I'm sure you did…" N'Dare smiled just as teasingly. "And I'm sure that it had nothing to do with the fact that I was half naked in it?"

"I am offended you would even think something like that! I am a gentleman, and gentlemen do not take pleasure in seeing young women exposed like that." Sokka's face dropped in mock shock.

"Sure you are." N'Dare said as she playfully patted him on his shoulder. While the two stood there laughing, Katara stopped her pacing and looked toward the sky.

"Aang's back!" Katara jubilantly called out. As Appa made his descent, the Gaang made their way into the entry hall. Toph had been soaking her feet in the fountain, so she was first to greet Aang and Zuko.

"Welcome back twinkle toes. Did you and sparky here find what you were looking for?" Toph patted Zuko on the shoulder rather roughly for good measure.

"No, we found a lot more!" Aang said excitedly.

"What did you two find?" Katara had been anxious since yesterday, and it was beginning to make her impatient.

"We found the Sun Warriors. It was amazing, after all these centuries, they still exist." Zuko said, still in awe from what they had learned.

"That's not all. When we got there, the Sun Warriors said that he had to be accepted by the masters. Only then could we learn the true meaning of fire bending. We had to take pieces of the eternal flame up this huge mountain and present it to the master." Aang had been so excited about the whole thing that he was talking to fast and the Gaang was hardly able to keep up.

"Wait, wait… slow down a minute." N'Dare said, trying to get Aang to calm down. "Now slowly, what happened after you met the Sun Warriors?"

Taking a deep breath, Aang tried his best to keep his excitement to a minimal.

"We took our offering to this mountain, and when we got there, there was these stairs leading to two caves. Then this guy started blowing a horn, and all of this rumbling started." As Aang talked, his enthusiasm grew. He soon started acting out every scene that he described for him. "Then out of nowhere, these dragons came."

"Dragons?!" Katara gasped in shock. She was under the impression that all the dragons had been wiped out years ago.

"Yeah dragons and they were big to. These were the masters that we were supposed to meet. The chief of the Sun Warriors had said that the dragons would judge us, that they would read our ancestry to deem us worthy of learning their secret. Since Zuko's family was directly the cause of the death of the dragons, and since I had disappeared when the world need me the most, we thought that the dragons wouldn't be happy to see either of us." At the end of all of that, Aang was breathless.

"Maybe you should let me finish the rest." Zuko half smiled at Aang. During their time in the Sun Warriors' city, the two had learned a little more about each other. Aang didn't see Zuko as he once had, and Zuko wasn't as convinced that Aang would never accept him.

"Maybe you're right." Aang offered a smile.

"Like Aang said, we didn't think that the dragons would be happy to see either of us. Actually I thought they would toast us on the spot, but they didn't. All they did was circle around us, not making any move to attack or anything." The grouped listened intently as Zuko talked. All of them were surprised that Zuko at least hadn't been a fritter after the dragons learned of who he was. "When we first arrived, we found this room with all these statues in a huge circle. They were all in these different poses, showing us some ancient fire bending steps."

"I figured that part out." Aang said proudly beside Zuko.

"Uh, yeah, right." Zuko commented. "So when the dragons didn't make a move to do anything, Aang here suggested we try doing the steps. While we did them, the dragons mimicked our ever move. Before we knew it, we were surrounded in flames."

"The dragons attacked you?" Sokka was curious as to why there weren't hurt, or at least burned a little.

"No, they were showing us the real meaning of fire bending. I had never seen so many colors in my life. It was beautiful." As long as Zuko had been fire bending, he had never truly known what fueled it. Now he was sure that fire wasn't just meant to destroy, but that it was also about passion. Before his passion was fueled by the hope of catching the avatar, now his new passion was to help him.

"So does that mean you can fire bend again Zuko?" N'Dare asked.

"With this new technique Aang and I learned, we'll be unstoppable."

"Show us what you've learned then." Katara snipped.

"Come on Zuko, let's show them." before Zuko could agree, Aang dragged him to the center of the room. The two began to perform the steps they had learned in the Sun Warriors city. Their movements were fluent and in near unison to the other. It was if they were partners performing a well practiced dance. As they made the full circle and joined their fist together, they followed through by thrusting their palms outward, sending a massive ball of flame out the temple.

"Wow, that's pretty nice dance moves." Sokka laughed as Aang and Zuko finished their performance.

"It's not a dance, it's an ancient form of firebending!" Zuko yelled embarrassed.

"Oh yeah, then what's the name of this fire bending technique?" Katara couldn't keep the smile off her face. The completely scandalized look Zuko had made it nearly impossible.

"Umm…" Zuko paused for a second. "The Dance of the Flying Dragons." He closed his eyes briefly, knowing full well what was about to happen next. Almost if on cue, the group burst out into laughter. Even N'Dare was holding her sides, laughing almost uncontrollably. Seeing everyone actually laughing made him chuckle to.

"Next time champ, you should think of a better name." N'Dare was at his side now, still chuckling between her words. At the comment, the group began to laugh even harder.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That night, as the Gaang settled around the campfire and began to eat, Sokka's mood was suddenly more secluded and contemplative. As Zuko made his way around the space handing out tea and trying lamely to retell one of his uncle's jokes, Sokka's gaze sat firmly on the flame in front of him. When Zuko finally made it to him, he looked up as a realization finally hit him.

"Zuko, can I talk to you for a minute?" Sokka rose without another word and made his way out onto the balcony.

Zuko watched as the teen walked outside the enclosed space. It was obvious that whatever Sokka wanted to talk about, that he didn't want the others to hear. Wordlessly, he placed his tea tray down and followed Sokka out. As the two made their way outside, N'Dare stopped in her conversation with Toph, Aang and Katara and watched them go. Something was up, she could just feel it. She knew that Sokka was having trouble coming to grips with his father's capture, but what could he want with Zuko.

When Zuko finally made it outside, Sokka looked over his shoulder to make sure that no one else had followed. Seeing that they were alone, Sokka took a deep breath and prepared himself for what he was about to ask.

"I need to ask you something…" Sokka paused, showing Zuko that this was a serious matter. Noticing the firm tone in Sokka's words, Zuko set his face in a determined expression, showing Sokka that he had his full attention.

"What is it?"

"I wanted to ask you, where do the Fire Nation bring its war criminals?"

"What?" Zuko was slightly through off. This wasn't the question that he was expecting him to ask. Zuko thought he was going to ask him something along the lines of if he had truly changed.

"I wanted to know where the Fire Nation brings its war captives. During the invasion my father was captured…" Sokka's mood had changed again.

"You don't want to know Sokka." Zuko realized now what it was that caused Sokka to ask the question.

"I just have to know what it is that I put him through." Sokka was almost pleading now.

"My guess is they put them in the Boiling Rock."

"What's that?" Sokka wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to know, but he had to ask.

"It's the most secure prison in the Fire Nation. It's located on an island that's surrounded by a boiling lake in the middle of a volcano."

"Wow, do you think they over did it just a little?" Sokka said slightly sarcastic, before the realization finally set in. His father was a prisoner in one of the most heavily guarded prisons in the world. No doubt they had recognized who he was, and was punishing him accordingly. He couldn't let that happen, not for his stupid mistakes.

"Why do you want to know all of this Sokka?" Zuko asked suspiciously.

"No reason…" a plan was formulating in Sokka's mind as he spoke. " I just feel better knowing is all." Sokka said as he stretched.

"Yeah, I'll bet." As Sokka walked back into the temple, Zuko couldn't help but wonder what it was that he was really thinking.

Later that night, while everyone else was fast asleep, Sokka rose from his sleeping mate and began to creep out of the temple. Before pretending to fall asleep, he had packed a small sack of supplies that he would need on his trip. Just as he was about to take another step, he looked down and paused his foot in midair. There resting just as peacefully as he would have in the most comfortable bed was Momo. Carefully he arched his foot over the lemur and continued on his way out the temple.

As quite as Sokka was, he still managed to wake Appa, which was exactly what he would have to do regardless. The bison would be his way to get to the Boiling Rock, even though he didn't exactly know where it was. He had looked at all the maps he had, but there was no location that he could see by that name. That came as little surprise. The Fire Nation wouldn't broadcast where their most heavily guarded prison was. Throwing his sack on into the saddle, Sokka began to climb up Appa. When he finally was able to make it to the saddle, he was scared half to death by what he saw.

"Nice night isn't it?" Zuko calmly said from his sitting position. The sudden shock of seeing Zuko caused Sokka to lose his grip and went falling down onto the hard ground below. As she rubbed his bottom from the aching pain he could feel growing, he looked up to see Zuko staring down at him. "What were you planning on doing Sokka?" Zuko already knew the answer; he just needed to hear him say it.

"I'm not going to let my father rot in there. It was my fault that he was captured, and it's my responsibility to get him out." Sokka didn't try to hide the truth from the other teen.

"So what, you were just going to waltz in there and find him?" Zuko asked.

"Yes…."

"What about Appa? The Boiling Rock doesn't exactly have a bison daycare."

"I would have thought of something…" Sokka began to grow a little upset as Zuko presented him with fact after fact.

"And then what? My uncle always told me that I didn't think things through, and now it seems you aren't either. I always thought you were the brains of this group."

"I am… you don't understand. I need to get my honor back." Sokka lamented. If there was one thing that Zuko could understand it was honor. He had thought for years that hunting down and defeating the avatar would redeem him, bring back his honor. But after all that had happened over the last few weeks, he knew that was no longer true. He had been foolish to believe that his father could give him back his honor. The only person that could do that was himself.

"You need to get back your honor? I can understand that." Zuko looked squarely in Sokka's eyes. "We can take my war balloon." The finality in his words was obvious. If Sokka had thought that he was doing this alone he was crazy.

"This is my problem, my responsibility, not yours. You don't have to get involved." Sokka was determined not to get anyone else involved in his mess. Should he fail and was captured himself, he didn't want to take anyone down with him.

"That's not an option. It's my war balloon, and where it goes, I go. Besides, it's not like you know the way there anyway." Zuko said matter of fact. As they came to Zuko's war balloon, Sokka was still tried to convince Zuko that he would handle this on his own.

"Really Zuko, I appreciate it, but you don't have to do this. I can manage."

"Look, you're going to need someone in there who has your back." Zuko turned to Sokka. "I haven't always been the best person in the world, and I know I've caused you and your friends a lot of problems. I'm just trying to make up for some of them."

Sokka looked at Zuko at this point and was stunned. Maybe Zuko really had changed, or at least was trying. He was willing to put his freedom on the line to help him free his father from the very prison that he country had built. Sokka had to admit, he was beginning to like this new Zuko.

"Thank you Zuko, this really means a lot to me." Sokka said softly.

"Awwwww…." Both boys yelped at the sound of the new voice. Neither one had seen anyone come out of the temple, and yet they heard a voice as clear as day. The sound of sniffles drew their attention to the sky above, where N'Dare hovered a few feet above their heads. "That's the cutest display of bromance I have ever witnessed." She said as she landed in front of them.

"N'Dare, what are you doing up?" Zuko asked surprised. He was hoping that he and Sokka could make it out without anyone finding them gone, especially N'Dare.

"You didn't think I was sleeping did you?" she looked to Zuko with a playful smirk on her face. "After you two went off and had your secret conversation earlier tonight, I knew something was up."

"What are you talking about, nothing's up. We were just taking a walk." Sokka said nervously.

"Right…. Well whatever it is that you two aren't getting into, count me in." N'Dare said as she walked passed both boys and into the war balloon.

"What?! No way are you coming along. This isn't a game N'Dare, this is serious. We may not come back." Zuko said seriously. He couldn't begin to think how he would feel if something were to happen to her while she was with them.

"I thought ya'll wasn't doing anything." She smiled at the look on Zuko's face as she caught him in his lie.

"Way to go Zuko." Sokka smacked his head as Zuko had given away their plan so unwittingly.

"Regardless, I'm still going. From what I did hear, this prison you guys are going to is pretty intense, and it's like you yourself said Zuko, you'll need someone to watch your back." She watched as both Sokka and Zuko stared at her from outside the balloon. "So what are you guys waiting for, an invitation?"

"We might as well let her come. There's no way we'll change her mind at this point." Zuko said to Sokka. He was willing to let Sokka decided if it was okay for N'Dare to come along with them, seeing as this was his mission.

"Fine, just let's go. If Katara and the others wake up, we won't have a chance of leaving." Sokka said as he boarded the war balloon. As the balloon rose from the ground, the three occupants sat quietly as they all thought of what was to come next.

To be continued…

A/N: I've decided to split this chapter into two different post. I guess this really will be like the episode of the Boiling Rock. I know I've been gone for quite some time, and for that I'm sorry. I just recently got back into my writing, and I had an obligation to do the other chapter post before I did this one. But as a consolation, I did manage to complete two chapters for this story. Now here comes the somewhat bad news. I won't post the other chapter until about a week after this one. I want to give people time to read and absorb this one before I fling another one at them. Though, if reviews are steady, then I'll just post the second chapter sooner. I don't want to seem as though I'm whoring out chapters just for reviews, it's just that I wanted this story to actually be note worthy. I want to look back a few years from now and say that this story actually meant something, to not only me, but others as well.


	16. Boiling Rock pt Two

**Of Mutants and Benders**

**By: Orionstorm04**

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or X-Men I only own the original idea and my OC's.

A/N: This update took me longer than I had hoped. I wanted to have it posted a week after the last one, but I got a little sidetrack. I forewarn you though; this chapter will be pretty long. Call it me trying to make up for the delays in updates. But enough of that, on to the important stuff, like the actually story.

**Boiling Rock pt. 2**

Zuko, N'Dare and Sokka were well into early morning as they passed over an endless expanse of ocean. As Zuko used his firebending to keep the aircraft aloft, Sokka stared aimlessly out at the horizon. It had been like that for well over three hours, and N'Dare was growing bored. She could sense the slight tension lingering between the two boys, and after pretending to clean her nails, for what felt like the millionth time since they left, N'Dare let out a frustrated sigh. She would get them to talk one way or another if it was the last thing she did.

"Soooo, Sokka, that's a pretty nice sword you got there." N'Dare tried lamely, though it seemed to be enough to get the boy's attention, as he turned proud eyes to his prized possession.

"Thanks, I made it myself from a meteor. While we were on the run in the Fire Nation, I met a sword master who agreed to train me. When we were done, he let me make my own sword." Sokka's eyes shined as he looked at his sword again, remembering those days of training with Master Piandao.

"You mean Master Piandao?" Zuko stopped his firebending and looked at Sokka questioningly.

"Yeah, you know him?"

"He's the best sword master in the entire Fire Nation. He doesn't take anyone as a student." Zuko said. There were rumors that it didn't matter who a person was; Piandao wouldn't train them. So how on earth did Sokka manage to train under the greatest swordsman?

"Wow, that's pretty impressive Sokka. He must have seen something in you that really spoke to him if he was willing to train you." N'Dare said appraisingly. "You know, Zuko is a pretty good swordsman himself. Maybe you two could train together some time?" N'Dare had to break the ice between them, out of fear that she would go insane from the silence. When neither one made a move to address her, N'Dare crossed her arms and huffed.

"Boys…"N'Dare whispered under her breathe. She could see now that this would be a long trip.

For the rest of the day, the trio sat in complete silence. And as morning turned into afternoon, then into early evening, N'Dare resigned to the fact that there would be no talking on this trip. As she watched the clouds coast lazily through the night sky, she couldn't help but think how peaceful it was during at this moment. Even with Sokka's constant snoring in the background, she was able to find peace in her surroundings. As the calm began to settle over her, lulling her into a light sleep, she heard Zuko call out to them.

"There it is!" Zuko yelled, causing Sokka to be jolted from his sleep. As the ship drew closer to the volcano, they weren't able to make out anything inside it due to the steam.

"I don't see anything." N'Dare said, as she narrowed her eyes to focus them.

"It's there, trust me. In the middle of the boiling lake is the prison." Zuko was sure that this was the right place. He had never actually been to the prison himself, but he had heard enough about it to know that it was indeed there.

"Good, we'll land the balloon and sneak in. Once we find my dad, we can sneak back without anyone knowing we were here." Sokka was determined to get in and get out.

"Sounds like a plan to me." N'Dare said as she strapped her bo staff to her waist.

"No N'Dare, you can't come." Zuko said flatly. He may have been willing to let her come this far, but he wasn't willing to let her actually go inside the prison with them. If they were caught, at least she would be able to get away.

"What do you mean no?! I'm not about to sit here and let you two go in there without me. We came this far together, and we'll go in together to." N'Dare vented to Zuko. She was angry that he wouldn't let her go with him.

"Zuko's right." Sokka's words cut off her rant before she could verbally assault Zuko again. "Even if we manage to get inside the prison, we wouldn't be able to explain you. You'd be pretty hard to miss, if you were arrested and brought in before." Sokka could see that his reason was setting in on her. "We need you out here, just in case something goes wrong." he said finally as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Dammit…" N'Dare mumbled under her breath. She understood exactly what Sokka was trying to say, and he was right. It would be hard for them to explain her sudden appearance in the prison without arousing some suspicions. "Fine, I'll stay." She pouted childishly, not liking being left out of the battle.

"And no air bending. We don't want the Fire Nation knowing just yet that you exist." Sokka informed her seriously. At the moment, she was there trump card. Since the Fire Nation didn't know that there were actually two air benders alive, it could give them the surprise they needed to win this war.

"God, why don't you just chain me to the balloon then?!" she huffed as she looked at both boys expectantly before giving in. "Alright, no air bending… unless absolutely necessary. And since we're coming up with all these rules, I have one. You two have one day to do everything you need to do, or I'm coming in there after you." She said determined. Zuko opened his mouth to say something else but Sokka beat him to the punch.

"Deal." He reached his hand out to shack N'Dare, sealing the terms of the agreement. As the war balloon grew closer to the crater of the volcano, N'Dare sighed heavily before giving both Zuko and Sokka a hug.

"Be careful…" she warned both of them before releasing them. As she stepped to the edge of the balloon, she looked below it to see they had already reached the beach. "This looks like my stop." Were her final words before she jumped over the side of the balloon. Sokka and Zuko ran to look over the edge, afraid that she had miscalculated and landed in the boiling water. Through the steam they were able to see her land gracefully on the rim of the volcano. As she looked back to her friends she waved, letting them know that she was alright.

As the balloon crested over the rim of the volcano, Zuko noticed that they were losing altitude, and fast. He shot blast after blast of intense heat, trying to get the balloon to slow its decent, but nothing worked.

"What's wrong?" Sokka asked worried.

"The air outside of the balloon is just as hot as the air inside it. I can't keep us up." Zuko was just as worried as Sokka. If they didn't do something soon, they would fall directly into the boiling water. Just as Zuko was about to suggest they try jumping as they grew closer to land, a powerful gust of wind erupted, pushing the balloon out of its freefall and crashing mere feet from the water.

When Zuko thought that it was okay for him to move, without sending his body into blinding pain, he wobbly got to his feet. The war balloon was almost completely destroyed. The balloon was torn to shreds, and the metal basket was in splinters. There was no way that they would be returning the same way they came. But even with all that said, he was shocked to see Sokka stand up and kick what remained of their ship in the boiling lake.

"What are you doing?!" Zuko hissed.

"We can't use it anyway, and we don't want one of the guards to find it." Sokka said as he walked closer towards the prison. "We'll just have to find another way out."

Silently, Zuko agreed. If one of the guards were to come across the ship, it would completely blow their cover. They would simply have to find another way out, after they found Sokka's father. They walked around the parameter of the prison, until they were able to find the entrance to the prison yard. Once beyond the gates, they clung to the shadows, keeping themselves hidden from the guards patrolling the barrack. Once inside, Zuko was able to find the prison armory, which had spare uniforms for them to disguise themselves with. It had taken them less than an hour to fully immerse themselves into the prison system. With luck, they could complete their mission and be out in less than a day.

"We should wait until morning before trying to find your dad. It would be too suspicious if we went into every cell looking for him in the middle of the night." Zuko whispered to Sokka, as they made their way deeper into the prison.

"Maybe you're right. It looks like they lock the prison down at night. First thing in the morning, we start looking for him." Sokka agreed.

Neither one of them sleep well during that initial night. As Sokka heard the screams coming down the hallway from the cells, his mind wonder what could have happen to his dad since he had been put there. His conscience wouldn't give him a moment's peace as he tossed and turned in his cot. Zuko on the other hand, only thought of how low he had fallen. He was once a proud prince of the Fire Nation, now he was little more than a babysitter of lunatics and degenerates.

As a regular part of their routine, the guards at the Boiling Rock woke up at the crack of dawn. Normally waking up with the sun bothered Sokka, but it was a welcoming distraction from his thoughts. He and Zuko immediately put on their helmets to hide their identities from the rest of the guards. It was a good thing that the helmet had a face mask the covered Zuko's scared eye. He would be recognized for sure if it was seen. Zuko and Sokka left their room and were making their way to the mess hall, when another guard spotted them down the hall.

"Hey, you two, there's a fight in the yard, we need help." the guard said before quickly running down the hall. Zuko and Sokka looked at each other in mild confusion before following him out into the yard. When they got there, all they could see was a huge circle of inmates surrounding one of the guards and another inmate. The line of guards watched as the lone guardsman taunted the large man.

"I didn't do anything wrong." the man said, staring past the crowd of people.

"Sure you did Chit Sang …" the guard grated out in his condescending tone. He was wearing a wicked smile on his weathered face as he stared down at the prisoner. "You didn't bow as I walked past."

The man now reviled to be Chit Sang looked at the man in shock. "That's not a prison rule." He said. For as long as he had been a prisoner there, he had never heard of such a rule that required inmates to bow when an officer passed.

"It is now. Now get or your knees and bow to me." The man's tone held so much malevolence, that even some of the guards began to yield unintentionally. Chit Sang looked to the office with disgust. These weren't men worthy to be bowed before. These were cowards, hiding behind the authority of the Fire Lord in order to pursue their own selfish egos.

"No…" Chit Sang said firmly. He wouldn't give into this man, nor would he place himself beneath him just for his amusement.

"What did you say?" the guards asked as if he hadn't heard. "You won't bow? Then you suffer the consequence of your own pride." With that, the guard produced a whip made of fire. As he drew his hand back to, he watched as Chit Sang turned to take the full brunt of his blow. As the flame came closer to Chit Sang, the prisoner made no move to dodge or even shield himself from the force of the attack.

But to everyone's amazement, Chit Sang firmly grasped the flame whip in his hand, then channeled the flames into his palm, squashing it in his massive hands. The rest of the prisoners immediately began to whisper amongst themselves. The few guards that had come to break up the confrontation began to advance on Chit Sang, as he stood with his eyes closed.

"There's no firebending here Chit Sang…" the guard smiled evilly towards the man. "It the cooler for you. You…" the guard pointed to Sokka. "Take this prisoner to the cooler."

Sokka looked from side to side, wondering if the guard meant someone else. After seeing all the other guards looking at him, and with a forceful nudge from Zuko, Sokka realizes that it was indeed him who the guard was ordering. Trying his best to impersonate what he thought a Fire Nation guard should look like when he walked, Sokka escorted Chit Sang out of the prison yard. Left behind with the other guards, Zuko watched at Sokka disappeared back into the prison.

While making his way back into the prison, Zuko overheard some of the other guards say they were going to eat. He thought that this would be a perfect chance for him to get some information on the inmates of the prison. He was careful not to seem to conspicuous as he probed some of the guards for the information. Most we in fact newcomers to the prison themselves, and couldn't really give him anything. It seemed as though the Boiling Rock had a problem with keeping their employees, something to do with not having a good retirement plan. There was one group of guards sitting at a table who were considered veterans. By veterans, it meant that they lasted longer than a few months.

"Can I sit with you guys?" Zuko asked, stressing his voice so that he could sound older.

"Why not." The female guard said. She wasn't built like your everyday woman. She was more muscled and masculine, but that was a trait that most firebending women had. To be a fire bender you had to be tough, both mentally and physically, or else the fire would consume you.

"I know you're new around here, but you don't have to keep your helmet on all the time." this guard was male, with a far more laid back attitude then the woman and other man that set next to him. He didn't look to be that much older than Zuko's sixteen years, though with a lot less muscle.

"But it's procedure, there could be an accident." Zuko rubbed the back of his neck as he tried lamely to convince them that he had to keep his helmet on.

"Give him a week, he'll learn." The female guards said dismissively. Zuko let out in inaudible sigh when no one else tried to have him take off his helmet.

"You guys have been here a while right." Zuko asked. He waited for them to nod their heads before he continued. "Can I ask you something?"

"No, you can't date the female staff." The woman said as she took a bit of her bread, and chewed thoughtfully.

"And trust me, you don't want to." The male guard said jokingly, before a metal dish hit him in the face. Zuko watched the exchange between the man and woman, while he thought of how he should proceed. If he came off to strong, they would grow suspicious of him, so he had to tread lightly.

"This is the Fire Nation's most secure prison, where they put the most dangerous criminals. So what about war criminals…?"

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As Sokka and the other guard made their way down the long hallway, it gave him his first real look at the prison cell. The large room was filled with cells, well over five hundred, but to Sokka's surprise, this wasn't the place they were taking the disobedient Chit Sang. They continued deep into the depths of the prison, until reaching the far west wall. It was here that the prison placed its prisoners who broke the no fire bending rule. It was specially designed to prevent a fire bender from bending, by placing them in the cooler, a metal insulated case that kept its insides to near freezing temperatures.

They had only placed Chit Sang in the cooler for little over thirty minutes, when the warden came walking down the hallway. He was a man of average height, and slightly muscular build to say that he was well into his fifties. His face seemed to be etched in stone, rarely showing any emotions, besides contempt.

"Well, well, well Chit Sang. I hear that you used fire bending against a guard?" the warden stared down and the now shivering Chit Sang. "You know the rules. Give him another day in the cooler." The warden said, as he calmly walked away.

Sokka peered through the small ice covered window at the shivering form of Chit Sang. Had it been anyone other than a Fire Nation citizen, he probably would have felt sorry for him, but Sokka couldn't bring himself to feel pity of any member of the Fire Nation. For the rest of the day, Sokka remained in front of Chit Sang's door. This part of the prison was hardly ever visited by any of the other guards, not unless they to were guarding someone in the coolers. As Sokka thought he would soon die of boredom, two guards came walking towards him.

"Shifts over, the two of you are being relieved." The guard to the right spoke.

"Thanks" Sokka said, quickly walking away from the door. He had wasted an entire day standing in front of a door. If his father was here, he wouldn't be finding it out standing guard for some Fire Nation prisoner. Earlier, he and Zuko had agreed to meet outside the prison, at one of the observation decks, he just hoped he wasn't too late. Sure enough, Zuko was there waiting for him.

"Where have you been?" Zuko asked, once he recognized Sokka.

"I got held up guarding the prisoner from earlier. Did you find anything?" Sokka asked, only slightly holding his breath. The look on Zuko's face didn't seem as though he had good news to share.

"I asked as many guards as I could, without raising to many questions." Zuko looked away from Sokka for a brief moment, trying to think of someway that he would soften the blow. "There are no Water Tribe prisoners here. According the people who I talked to, there aren't _any_ prisoners here from the invasion."

"What…" Sokka only mumbled his surprised word. He couldn't believe that his father wasn't here. Where else could they have put him, if not in the most secure prison in the Fire Nation? His mind really wouldn't allow him to think of what else could have happened to his dad.

"Sokka, I know how you feel, but there was no way you could have known that he wasn't here." Zuko tried his best to be supportive to the other teen. He could only imagine how much Sokka was beating himself up over the decision to come here.

"I can't believe I dragged us here for nothing." Sokka berated himself. He walked miserably to the guard rail overlooking the prison yard. The sun was beginning to set, and with it; his hope disappeared.

"You had to see if your dad was in here, there's nothing wrong with that. But I think we should try and figure out a way to get out of here. N'Dare's still waiting, and if we're not out by sunrise, she'll find a way to get herself in, and I for one don't want that happening." Zuko had been aware of their time schedule that N'Dare had given them before they entered the Boiling Rock, and he had every ounce of confidence that she would hold true to her word to come in after them.

"Wait…" Sokka's voice had suddenly taken on a more upbeat tone. As he narrowed his eyes in focus, a huge smile erupted on his face. "IT'S Suki!" he exclaimed joyously. Sure enough, sitting only a stones through away was the Kiyoshi Warrior herself. Her appearance was more beaten down than what Sokka was used to, and she looked tired, but she was alive. Since the invasion, and Azula's taunt of her capture, Sokka's worry for her was equal to that of his father's.

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For what seemed like the millionth time, N'Dare made another circuit around the small hut that was used as a storage shed for the prison. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since Zuko and Sokka entered, and she still hadn't heard from them. She racked her brain wondering what could have happened to them since, and every thought made her even more anxious. After watching them hurdle towards the boiling lake, and having to use her powers to save them, she began to wonder if it was a good idea to let them go in alone.

"I'm going crazy out here from waiting!" she screamed to no one. The waiting was truly making her impatient, and if she didn't do something to occupy her mind soon, she knew she would do something rash. She couldn't practice her air bending, out of the fear that someone might see her, and she couldn't enter the prison at the moment to find them, because then she wouldn't know what to say.

"Dammit…" she sulked as she plopped down on the ground. There was nothing she could do, or at least at this very moment. She was serious when she told them that they had a day to get in and get out, or she would be going in after them. Currently, she didn't quite know how she was going to accomplish that, but if N'Dare was one thing it was determined. "Now there's an idea…" she thought out loud. At the moment, her worry was causing her to pace around in a circle, and to add to that, she would soon need a plan of action of getting into the prison undetected. She could use this time to come up with a game plan on how she would go about getting in. As N'Dare got up to go back in the small hut, her stomach let out a low grumble, causing N'Dare to rub her stomach soothingly.

"But first, I need to find something to eat."

Dawn came before N'Dare realized, and she still hadn't come up with a suitable plan for her to enter the prison. Every idea would cause her to be stopped, and exposed as an air bender. She thought that maybe there was something in this shack that could help her get in undetected, but all it had to offer was a few rags of clothing and some Fire Nation uniforms, which neither would do her any good. Soon she began to think to hell with staying hidden or keeping her abilities a secret from the Fire Nation, and just ransack the place and bring Zuko and whoever else out on her own.

"Now that's just stupid." N'Dare berated her own foolishness. There had to be something that she could do to get in that prison without breaking her promise to Sokka and Zuko.

"Everybody off the ship!" a loud commanding voice rang through the earlier morning air.

N'Dare immediately jumped to her feet at the sound of someone yelling. There wasn't supposed to be anyone here, or at least she didn't think so. Crouching low, she inched her way closer to the window, trying not to make any noise that would alert whoever was out there to her presence. When she peered out the window in the direction where the voice had come from, her mouth went dry. Fire Nation soldiers, quite a few of them at that. There were at least six guards lining the platform leading to the docks, all of them wearing helmets that concealed their face.

She watched as the soldiers forced their prisoners of the ship. The looks on the men's faces were like watching them head to the gallows. There was fear of course, but there was also a look of pure hopelessness. N'Dare sympathized with the men, though she had no clue as to what they did. Knowing as little as she did about the Fire Nation, she was sure the crimes didn't fit the punishment. The Fire Nation was nothing but a group of tyrants, who undoubtedly gained many enemies.

That was it! That was how she would get into the prison. The Fire Nation had more enemies then they would ever really know, so adding one more wouldn't hurt. With all the people out there that hated them, it stood to reason that someone would try to help liberate those who were wrongly arrested by them. All N'Dare had to do was make her next actions look convincing, and everything would be smooth sailing.

Keeping herself aware that her choice of clothing wasn't exactly the current fashion of any of the remaining nations, N'Dare removed her orange over shirt, leaving her with only the yellow undershirt. Her natural looks alone was going to make this difficult, adding a style of dress reminiscent of the air benders would only make things worse.

She waited until the last prisoner made his way off the ship before she prepared to go into action. Unlike the others, this man didn't seem to be afraid at all. He didn't cower in fear when the Fire Nation solider barked an order at him. He simply kept his head high, and followed the others towards a path heading up the volcano's side. Taking a deep breath to gather her now raging nerves, she extended her staff and burst through the door.

"Down with the Fire Nation!" N'Dare yelled theatrically. Even to her ears that battle cry sounded a little lame, but it was the first thing she could think of.

"What the-"one of the guards yelled.

N'Dare charged headlong into the thick of the group, figuring that they would undoubtedly use fire bending. If she was able to stay between them, it would make it harder for them to attack without hurting their comrades. Of course it would have been nothing to bring this small group down if she was actually trying to win. Though she was planning on getting herself caught, she still had to make it look convincing, or else they wouldn't believe she was actually trying to stay out of prison.

She was able to deflect a fire ball aimed for her head, as she swiped her leg under the solider, taking his legs from under him. By this time the other men had snapped out of their initial shock, and were advancing on her. Deciding that her best option at this point was hand to hand combat, with a simple flick of N'Dare's wrist, her staff compacted and she returned it to the holster on her waist. The prisoners only watched in confusion as this strange young woman appeared out of nowhere and began to attack their captors.

After years of training under the likes of her Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Logan, these men we little more than a light practice for her. Braking through their personal defenses and gaining the upper hand was almost too easy. When she realized that maybe she was going to rough on them, she began to hold back. N'Dare was now on the defensive, feigning desperately to hold back two of the six guards as they backed her off the path. She was easily able to see another man sneak up behind her, and she could have taken him out if this was any other situation, but she simply pretended not to notice.

So it came as no surprise to her when she felt two meaty arms grab her from behind in a vice like grip. As she pretended to struggle against the man's hold, she felt his grip on her tighten. He was serious about keeping her restrained as another guard came with a pair of handcuffs. N'Dare had expected this, actually she was hoping for this, but what she hadn't expected, and sure as hell hadn't hoped for was for the guard holding her to slam her to the ground.

For a brief moment, all N'Dare saw was stars as they danced behind her closed eyelids. She tried to will the oxygen that had rushed out of her lungs to return, so that she could breathe once more. When her vision finally cleared, and she could once again breathe, N'Dare was able to register the feel of cold metal encircling her wrist. She could still feel the weight of the man, as he kept his knee buried in her back.

"Who are you?!" one solider asked as he made his way towards her. By his decretive uniform, and they way her carried himself, N'Dare figured he was the one who was in charge. "Han, put her on her feet so that I can look into her face."

"Yes Major Ling." The man called Han responded. He roughly tugged N'Dare to her feet, lifting her slightly off the ground as he did so.

"Now that's better isn't it." Major Ling said politely. N'Dare could see that he was trying to be kind, thinking it would make her talk. "Won't you answer my question? Who are you and why did you attack us? By the looks of you, you aren't from the Fire Nation. Maybe from one of the Earth Kingdom colonies or one of the Water Tribes?" he looked at her suspiciously.

"Go to Hell! I won't answer to some brownnosing Fire Nation lackey." Her tone was laced with so much venom it could almost cut. While she had planned to be caught, she wasn't going too held to them. She had to play the role of rebel, someone who despised the Fire Nation and would do anything to see its downfall. Before she could spew out anymore harsh words of hatred, N'Dare felt a swift sting to her cheek. As she turned shock filled eyes at the man who assaulted her, she couldn't help but notice the slight satisfaction he got from striking her.

"Comments like that will only make this harder." The evil look on Major Ling's face was all too clear. He was enjoying having her at his mercy. "Now I'll ask you again, who are you and what are you doing here?"

N'Dare's anger was boiling, and she was visibly shacking from it. 'Stay calm, stay calm…' she chanted mentally, trying to regain her composure. She needed to think of a reason why she would be attacking a Fire Nation prison, something that would warrant her being placed in this particular prison.

"I came here to free the prisoner that you've wrongfully locked up here. I won't rest until the Fire Nation has answered for its crime, and the victims have justice for what you've done." N'Dare spoke clearly. That same sinister smile returned to Major Lings face as he stared her in the eyes, before giving her exactly what she wanted all along.

"Well now, isn't this ironic. You came here to set the prisoners free, and all you've managed to do is joined them. You are hereby arrested for treason against the Fire Nation, and will serve a sentence for the rest of your life." With that said the major turned on his heels and began to walk back up the path. He paused in midstride and turned back towards N'Dare, taking a glance at her waist. "And I'll take that weapon of yours." He snatched her compressed staff from her waist, before looking at it curiously. "Let's get moving, we're already late, and you know how the warden is about punctuality."

Han pushed N'Dare forward; placing her in line right in front of the man she had seen earlier, the only one who hadn't looked like he had crapped his pants when he was unloaded. As N'Dare rubbed her tender check, she felt the man behind her gently tap her.

"That was pretty brave for someone your age." Came his whispered call. Turning her head slightly to him, she caught of glimpse of him from the corner of her eye. There was something about the man's eyes that was familiar to her, but what it was she couldn't say.

"Thank you…" N'Dare said softly. Her jaw was slightly sore from the force of Major Ling's hit, and she was sure she had a good sized bruise on her cheek, but she still managed a slight smile.

"I noticed you didn't answer his other question though."

N'Dare couldn't believe that this man was actually having a conversation with her at this exact moment. Her first impression of him not being scared of the prison guards was correct it seemed. And he was right; she hadn't answered the man's questions.

"N'Dare." Was the only thing she said as her answer. She could hear the man behind her make a sound of understanding as he heard her.

"Hakoda."

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The previous night for Sokka and Zuko had been eventful, at best. When the prisoners were made to returned to their cells, Sokka immediately took the opportunity to seek out Suki. When he finally came across her cell, he was hardly able to contain his excitement. He had been so worried about her, and now all that worry just washed away. As he walked into her room, he noticed the slightly surprised looked she gave him. The look didn't last long before it was swallowed up by indifference and a slight undertone of anger.

"What do you want?" she seethed at the guard. "I haven't done anything wrong, so you have no reason to be here." Her hatred for her captives carried in every word she spoke. Had she been capable, she would have enjoyed nothing more than to teach these Fire Nation cronies why it was that the Kiyoshi Warriors were among the best in the Nations.

"You don't recognize me?" Sokka asked, only half annoyed that she could see him through the disguise.

"All you Fire Nation scum look the same to me." Suki crossed her arm over her chest and looked away from the guard. She hated the fact that there was nothing that she could do, and the feeling of helplessness she felt towards her whole situation.

"Maybe you'll remember this." In one fluid motion, Sokka had crossed the small space between them and grabbed Suki by the wrist, turning her to face him. As he lifted his helmet to expose his lips, he felt a sharp tug right before he was pinned to the wall.

"If you ever place your hand on me again, I'll make sure that they never work." Her tone was low and threatening, and Sokka knew she meant every word of it. At that moment, Sokka thought it best that he end the game before he lost something really important to him, other than his ability to touch.

"Suki, it me." Sokka painfully gasped as she bent his arm further.

"Sokka!" she immediately released him, and forced him around. With one tug, she removed his helmet and upon seeing that it was actually him, gathered him in a fierce embrace. "I knew you would come" the few tale-tail tears began to roll down her ivory cheeks as pure joy raced through her. She thought she would never see him again or anything for that matter.

"How did you get here?" Suki asked confused. By the way he was dressed, and how he had access to her cell, he couldn't have been a prisoner.

"It's a long story." Thus Sokka began to recount his journey to the Boiling Rock. There were a few things that left her amazed, but she held off on asking any questions until he was done.

"Wow, Sokka. You risked a lot to see your dad." She gently cupped his cheek

"I miss you." He tired to convey all of his emotions into those three little words. The need to be with her now was almost unbearable, causing him to lean in and give her a passionate kiss on the lips. There moment was ruined when a resounding knock came at the door.

"Someone's coming." Zuko whispered loudly.

"I'll come back for you later, I promise." Sokka stole one last kiss before leaving the room. From that moment one, things only got worse. The person that Zuko noticed heading in his direction, was heading to Suki's room. When Zuko refused to let her in, the female guard tried to remove him, and in the resulting scuffle realized that he was an imposter. Unfortunately, Sokka was the first person she saw, and she yelled for help.

Zuko was arrested and place into a holding cell with the general population. His first visitor was none other than the warden, who immediately recognized Zuko. To Zuko's surprise, the warden was Mai's uncle, and he wasn't too pleased with Zuko breaking Mai's heart. He never meant to hurt her, or abandon her like that, but what else was he supposed to do? He couldn't take her with him, and have her be labeled a traitor to.

With Zuko's arrest, Sokka had two people that he had to break out. When the prisoners were released to perform cleaning duty, Sokka gathered Suki and Zuko to fill them in on his escape plan. At first, Suki wasn't too pleased to see Zuko again, seeing that last time he tried to burn down her village. After apologies were made, Sokka began to fill them in on how they would escape. Unknown to them, they had an eavesdropper. Chit Sang had overheard their attempts at breaking out, and demanded to be a part of it. Begrudgingly, the group agreed. Sokka's plan involved Zuko being put in the cooler, and who better to assist in that endeavor than a person who had been put there many times before.

It was in the cooler that Zuko and Sokka heard news that some new arrivals would be coming the next day. When one of the passing guards mentioned that war prisoners were to be delivered, Sokka's world came screeching to a halt. Maybe this could be it; maybe his dad would be one of those prisoners. But was he right in jeopardizing both Suki and Zuko's freedom, on the off chance that his dad would show?

When the time came for them to put their plan into action, Sokka began to have second thoughts. He was being plagued with thoughts of his own selfishness. He could risk everyone's safety by delaying the escape.

"Sokka, you can't just leave like this. What if your father is one of those prisoners?" Suki asked. She could see that Sokka had been thinking the same thing.

"I can't risk it. Not on the off chance that he'll be here."

"Suki's right, you can't just leave. If you do, you'll regret it." Zuko told him. there had been many things that he had regretted in the past, and he only wished that he could go back and change all of it.

"That's not the only thing at stake here. Zuko, what about N'Dare? We left her out there. If someone were to find her, she would be put in here with the rest of us." Sokka reminded him. Zuko paused for a second, for a moment forgetting that it wasn't just him and Sokka who had come here.

"Who's that?" Suki was confused by the name. She knew all of Sokka's friends, so she figured it must be someone that came with Zuko.

"It's not important right now. What's important is that we get you off this island." Sokka dismissed her question and walked to the disconnected cooler.

"I'm not leaving. I won't let you do this, and if the only way to make you stay is for me to stay, then so be it." Suki stood her ground as she stared Sokka down. He was shocked at first that she would decline to leave, and then shock turned into understanding. She was willing to place everything on the line for him. She would never know how much that meant to him.

"Besides, I don't think N'Dare would be to happy if she found out we came all the way here for nothing. Not to mention we left her behind." Zuko grinned at the thought of N'Dare fuming that they had come here and left empty handed.

It was then that the trio decided that they would stay one extra day. They would have to figure out another escape plan if they had any chance of getting out of there alive. During the early hours of morning, Suki, Sokka and Zuko began to make their way back to the prison. Just as they made it to the yard, where all the other inmate had gather after breakfast, they saw the gondola come into the docking station. Sokka waited on pins and needles as the prisoners began to file out one by one. The suspense was nearly killing him, and when what seemed to be the last passenger unloaded, his heart sank.

"That can't be it…" Sokka said. After everything, his dad wasn't on that transport.

"You two, off the ship!" the guard yelled to someone left in the cart. When a tall man came walking into the sunlight, Sokka's heart soared.

"Dad…" he whispered overjoyed. His joy however was short lived when he seen who it was that followed him.

"N'Dare?!" Zuko's heart dropped to his knees when he seen a head of platinum hair walk off the gondola following Sokka's dad. Before he knew it, his feet were carrying him to the platform where the gondola boarded.

"What are you doing?!" Sokka asked as he grabbed Zuko by the arm firmly and pulled him back behind the wall they hide behind.

"What does it look like; I'm getting her out of here." Zuko looked at Sokka as if that was obvious. It was never part of their plan to get N'Dare involved, but he should have known sooner or later she would drag herself into this.

"You can't do that, you're an inmate now Zuko. You walk up there and the warden will have you shipped back to the Fire Nation, and to your father." Sokka's words spoke volumes to the young prince. Zuko had told Sokka that the warden knew who he was, and was planning on getting his fun out of him before informing the Fire Lord. "Look, I'll go up there and make sure she's alright. Then later, we can figure out a way to get out of here." Without waiting for Zuko's replay, Sokka pulled his helmet mask back down and casually walked to the platform. He had arrived just in time to hear the warden introducing himself to the new inmates.

"Welcome to the Boiling Rock. I'm sure you've all heard how hard this place can be…" the warden looked to one man in particular, who was practically shacking. "But I can assure you, it doesn't have to be all that bad. As long as you know your place, you should be fine." As the warden came up to N'Dare, he paused. "Where did you find this one?"

"She attacked us outside the prison walls. She claimed that she was trying to free the prisoners." Major Ling relayed the information with a stiff tone.

"Is that so?" the warden inspected N'Dare from head to toe, before giving her a leery smile. "Where do you come from?"

N'Dare's first instinct was to tell the man to go to Hell, but she remembered what happened the last time. She didn't think her patients could stand another slap to the face. Thinking quickly, she lowered her head and mumbled her response.

"Wakanda…" her answer was barely above a whisper.

"What was that?" the warden's tone held warning. "I didn't quite catch that."

"I said I'm from Wakanda. We are a small island nation, far removed from the other four. For well over a century we have kept ourselves hidden from the rest of the world, especially after what was done to the Air Nomads. The Fire Nation shall one day answer for their crimes, and I hope with everything I am that I will be around to witness it. The Avatar has returned, and with his reemergence, so comes your punishment." N'Dare spoke each word with conviction, almost as if she was stating events that had already come to pass.

Unlike with the other guard, the warden didn't result to physical brutality. He simply stared the young woman down, studying the fire that burned in her. Her eyes reflected something far greater than her years atoned for, something that he had only seen in men who had witnessed more than their share of tragedies. The warden could see that his normal methods of breaking down inmates wouldn't work on her. No, her punishment would have to be much more severe.

"It seems as though your nation taught you how to be strong?" His question was moot. He didn't want a reply; more or less he wanted to snuff out that defiant look in her eyes. "But no amount of strength will save you now. Any thoughts you had of escape, for you or any man here, should be abandoned. This prison has never had an escape, and I'd sooner jump into the lake myself before I let that record fall." He was mere inches from N'Dare's face. She could feel as his breath puffed against her skin. She closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again. The normal silver hue had harden to an almost granite shade.

"I would gladly assist you in that endeavor, should you ever need the extra push." N'Dare's voice was pure malice as she stared into the warden's beady eyes. Her contempt for him rolled off her in waves as she watched his face harden with barely contained rage. She had defiantly hit a nerve with that last comment, and only after her satisfaction began to sate, that she realized that she would no doubt pay for that public display of humiliation.

With blinding speed, Major Ling was before her. He gripped her firmly by the throat, before throwing her roughly to the ground. At the sight of the man putting his hands of N'Dare, Sokka had to forcibly remind himself that he could blow his cover. If any of them had any hope of making it out of here alive, he had to remain calm. He only hoped that Zuko was so easily reminded of the situation, either that or Suki holding him down.

"I told you, comments like that would only make matters worse." Major Ling said as he bent down towards her. The only sound was of N'Dare gasping for air. As she finally caught her breath, N'Dare turned murderous eyes towards Major Ling. Her assumption that her patients couldn't withstand another assault, especially by this man, was correct. Standing on still wobbly legs, N'Dare prepared to lunge herself at her assailant, and whip that condescending grin off his face.

Major Ling must have sensed her intent, because as soon as she was on her feet again, he drew his hand back to deliver another sharp slap to the face. Thought this time, the offending pain of flesh meeting flesh never came. And when the haze of rage and anger cleared from N'Dare's mind, all she saw was the man named Hakoda holding back Major Ling's arm.

"That enough, or has the Fire Nation reverted to beating up little girls?" Hakoda stared into Major Ling's eyes, almost daring him to raise his hand to strike this girl again. Major Ling only stood there. He had heard about this particular prisoner from the reports. He, along with dozens of others, attacked the Fire Nation capital during the Day of Black Sun. Only a fool would attack the Fire Nation, even when it was at its most vulnerable. It said a lot to a man's credit, when he was willing to risk everything for a cause he believed in.

All the while, the warden stood silent. He was able to recognize Hakoda of the Water Tribe almost immediately after he stepped off the boat. Being the warden of the most secure prison in his nation, he had been given descriptive details of all enemies of the Fire Nation, and Hakoda ranked right of there with some of the most notorious. It was no wonder that he would be placed in his prison, and if it only had been him, there would be no worry.

To many things had changed within the last few hours for the Warden to not grow somewhat concerned. First it was his discovery of Prince Zuko in his prison that he considered to be a small prize. Now, one of the Fire Nation's most hated enemies was an inmate in his prison. Couple those two with the emergence of this girl, who no one could rightfully say where in actuality she came from. Indeed, things were getting out of hand, and if he didn't want his prison to fall into utter chaos, he had to regain control of the situation.

"Major Ling…" the Warden called. "Since these two have undoubtedly formed some kind of close bond…" he was using that sickeningly calm voice as he peered at Hakoda and N'Dare evenly. "Place them in a cell together. It will make it that much easier for us to break them. As for the rest of these pathetic excuses for human beings, get them out of my sight." With that the warden turned on his heel and head back into the prison.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

N'Dare watched her surroundings as the guard led her and Hakoda down a long corridor. The men placed in this desolate place had seemed to all but give up hope. Their face showed a lifetime of abuse and punishment by the hands of the Fire Nation. The prison was a personal Hell of all of them, with a temperature to match. Though even with the sweltering heat, N'Dare didn't sweat. It was confusing, after being arrested and beaten, she found herself thinking that she couldn't sweat while in all this heat.

She was able to recognize that it was hot, though she couldn't bring herself to actually feel the heat in the room. All she felt was a strange pressure surrounding her, almost overwhelming her. Her mind simply chalked it up to her abilities as an airbender. Maybe somehow, her natural abilities to manipulate the weather prevented her from getting overheated. She would have to remember to ask Aang later if he ever felt that way.

"This is your cell, enjoy." The guard's gruff tone brought her out of her daydreaming. He first shoved Hakoda in, then her. When N'Dare heard the door slam behind her, it was the first time that it dawned on her that she had found herself back in another Fire Nation prison.

"Doesn't look like we made friends with the Warden." Hakoda said as he slumped tiredly to the floor, as he leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. "You have quite a temper on you young lady." Hakoda cracked one eye open as he watched her back stiffen.

"I don't like to be manhandled, or underestimated." N'Dare finally turned from the door to stare at the man who would be her cellmate. "You have a lot of nerve calling me out. It seemed as though you weren't playing all that nice yourself."

"I don't appreciate grown men picking on little girls." Hakoda then lifted his head to stare directly at N'Dare. "I have a son and daughter around your age. Those two have done things that I would never expect kids to be capable of, so I don't think that I would be able to underestimate anything does."

N'Dare didn't ask who his kids were; truthfully she didn't expect to get an answer. Obviously this man had been harden by this war, and revealing personal information like that, even in his position, could be compromising. She only sat quietly as she let everything sink in. she had managed to get into the prison without that much of an incident, now all she had to do was find Zuko, Sokka and his dad and figure out a way to get out of here.

As N'Dare sat, trying to think of a plan to find the others, a sound came from the door. It slowly creaked open, letting in a rather puny guard into the room. Hakoda immediately got to his feet, preparing to defend himself with everything he had.

"I hope you think it that easy to deal with me. I'm prepared to die if I must." Hakoda's voice was resolute.

"I know it wouldn't be easy to take you down." The Guard said slightly amused, to Hakoda's charging. "Dad, it's me, Sokka." Sokka removed his helmet and smiled at his father. It only took a second for him to be enveloped in his father's arms.

"Sokka, I was so worried about you. What are you doing here, where is your sister?" the questions came faster than the young teen was able to answer.

"Wait, this is your dad?!" it was the first time N'Dare spoke since the pseudo guard entered the room.

"Yeah, this is my dad, Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe." Sokka said proudly. Hakoda only looked to his son confused, why was he talking to this girl as if he knew here?

"If that's the case, you and Zuko didn't need to bust in here at all. I could have set him free at the front gates." N'Dare said exasperated.

"What are you evening doing here in the first place? We told you to stay outside, now we have one extra person to break out of prison."

"Excuse me? I told you that you had twenty-four hours to get in and get out, or I was coming in. Don't blame me because you're too slow." N'Dare crossed her arms as she turned her back to Sokka in mock anger. Hakoda only looked at the exchange in bewilderment.

"Uh Sokka, is this young lady your girlfriend? And if so, I think you should at least introduce her to your father." Hakoda said, only half jokingly.

"Dad! She is not my girlfriend, Suki is." Sokka cheeks turned slightly red.

"He wishes." N'Dare mumbled under her breath.

"Then who is she?"

"She's a friend, but that will have to wait. Right now we need to come up with a plan to get out of here." All the levity left Sokka. It was crunch time, and the longer they waited, the worst off things could get.

"Wait a minute, where's Zuko?" N'Dare questioned. She figured Zuko and Sokka would be close together while they were undercover.

"We ran into a little problem while we were looking for you; dad." Sokka looked to his father before turning back to N'Dare. "When we couldn't find him, we ran into another friend of mine, Suki. While I was talking with her, Zuko got caught and was arrested." Sokka finished his story with a sigh. When he heard a loud gasp from N'Dare, he immediately regretted her finding out like this.

"How could you have let that happened?! I knew I shouldn't have let you two come in here alone." N'Dare mind began to race with thoughts of what could be happening to him right now.

"Calm down N'Dare, he's fine. I was just with him right before I came to you and my dad. The warden knows who he is and plans of sending him back to his father in the Fire Nation, but by that time we'll be long gone." A plan was forming in Sokka's mind as he spoke. It took him only minutes to relay to Hakoda and N'Dare what the plan was, and both had to agree that it could work. They were to create some kind of distraction, and when the prison was in complete disarray, they would kidnap the Warden and hold him as ransom. They would use the gondola to escape, threatening harm to the warden if anyone tried to stop them. When both N'Dare and Hakoda were filled in on the plan, Sokka quietly slipped out of the room. All he had left to do was tell Suki and Zuko before he could put his plans into action.

Hours after everything was set, and the sun was at its highest, Sokka went to the guard controlling the cell doors. It was easy to manipulate the guard into thinking that the warden wanted the prisoners released into the yard. While the warded prided himself on running a tight ship, his was mistake was making those under him so afraid of disobeying his command, that it was all too easy to convince them to do what someone wanted under the guise that it was a command from him.

When the cell doors open, and all the inmates began rushing outside, only three people knew what this really meant. N'Dare followed Hakoda as he ran down their corridor leading outside, before she stopped. She had this unsettling feeling about Zuko, like there was something wrong. Wordlessly she turned in the other direction.

"What are you doing? We need to be outside." Hakoda called after her.

"Zuko needs my help, I can't leave without him." N'Dare didn't know how she knew, but she just felt as though she needed to find him. Realizing that nothing he could say would stop her, Hakoda continued his trek outside. N'Dare didn't all together know where she was headed, so she just continued straight. When she began to think that she had led herself in circles, she heard the distinctive voice of Zuko, and someone else.

Their voices were coming from up ahead and around the corner. When N'Dare turned said corner, she came across someone who she had hoped to see before leaving this place. Major Ling stood in the doorway leading to the cell where Zuko's voice had come from. He was telling someone that there was a riot going on in the prison yard, and the warden had ordered him to place them in protective custody.

All of that at the moment was a blur to N'Dare. All she could think of was the times this man had placed his hands on her, and the resentment she felt towards him. With swift stealth, N'Dare ran down the hallway. It took Major Ling only a second to realize that someone or something was moving quickly down the hall, but by that time it was too late. Out of reflex, he shot a fire ball aimed at the person's head, but N'Dare easily avoided it. The flame scorched the metal where she once stood, as N'Dare jumped to on the guard rail, before launching herself to deliver a powerful kick to Major Ling's chest.

The kick knocked the wind out of the man, as it sent him careening through the air. The momentum carried him into the cell, and colliding with whoever Zuko had been talking to. N'Dare rushed into the room, noticing a pale girl lying underneath an unconscious Major Ling.

"Zuko, come on, we have to get out of here before it's too late." She yelled with urgency in her voice. For a second, Zuko only stood there, him and the girl staring heatedly into each other's eyes. "We don't have time for you to feel bad about knocking down a girl, we have to go." N'Dare then pulled him out of the room, closing the door behind them.

When N'Dare and Zuko finally made it outside, everything was complete craziness. People were fighting, fire was being shot in every direction, and the guards were nowhere to be found. Zuko was the first to spot Sokka and the group, only because he was able to recognize Chit Sang's towering form. When they came to the group, Sokka turned around, slightly startled.

"We've been looking for you two, where have you been?" Sokka asked.

"Zuko was having a conversation with some chick, before I found him." N'Dare grumbled. Had anyone been paying real attention, they would have noticed the slightly jealous tone she had when she answered that question. Luckily for her, no one did.

"The Warden's up there. All we have to do is find a way up there, grab the warden, make our way to the gondola and then we're home free." Sokka laid out the plan.

"But how are we going to get up there?" Zuko turned to Sokka. The two began to talk out a plan, oblivious to the fact that two of their members had already set out to carry their own.

With unparalleled skill and grace, both N'Dare and Suki leaped from one person's head to another. It was as if neither of them made contact with the person, as they raced across the crowed of people. When they reached the tower leading to the balcony where the Warden surveyed the grounds, both girls jumped into the air. Suki was airborne first, followed immediately by N'Dare. When Suki reached the zenith of her jump and began to descend back down, she felt the weight of N'Dare on her shoulders as the other girl used her as a stepping stool.

"I think that maybe your girlfriends already came up with something." Chit Sang told Zuko and Sokka, as he watched both girls in awe of their skills.

Suki was unfazed, as she clung to the wall and began to scale it in seconds. When she reached the floor directly below that of the Warden's, she witnessed N'Dare going head to hear with two guards. Seeing that N'Dare didn't need any help taking care of her two opponents, Suki continued on her way to the Warden. When she made it to the top, two remaining guards were waiting for her. Suki made quick work of both of them, before she was ready to take on the Warden.

To say that she was expecting more would be an understatement. From the way that he carried himself, Suki would have thought that the Warden would have been more of a challenge, but she guessed looks could be deceiving. After tying and gagging him, Suki waited for the others to get there.

"Those are some girlfriends you two have there boys." Hakoda said as he tried to catch his breath.

"Yeah…" Sokka said dreamingly. Zuko didn't answer immediately, being too distracted by N'Dare's absence. Seconds before he was about to ask if anyone had seen N'Dare, she came flying over the rail, landing perfectly on its narrow surface.

"That was fun." She said as she jumped down from the ledge. A slight flicker caught her attention, when she noticed her compressed staff hanging off the warden's waist. It was the second time since she had arrived here that someone else tried to lay claim to her precious staff. Too bad none of them realized that it would only extend when it registered her DNA. "This is mine." She said smugly to the Warden.

"We don't have much time; we need to make it to the gondola before they regroup." Hakoda advised the group.

There were only a few obstacle on their way to the platform, but when the guards seen that they had the warden, they backed off. As everyone filled on board the gondola, Zuko began kicking the breaks. The gondola was several feet away from the landing deck, before he was able to break the handle off. Zuko ran with all his might as he launched himself in the air, only barely catching hold of the gondola's siding. N'Dare and Sokka had to pull him the rest of the way in the ship, before he fell.

"What were you thinking?!" N'Dare Chastised him.

"I had to make sure that they couldn't stop us." He told her evenly.

"Who is that?" Chit Sang called over their shoulder. When Zuko and Sokka looked back, both knew that they had real trouble now. Standing on the platform was Azula, Ty Lee and a very pissed off looking Mai.

"It's my sister and her friends." Zuko said solemnly.

"Isn't that the girls you were talking to in you cell?" confusion was etched all of N'Dare's face.

"That's Mai…. My girlfriend." Was Zuko's only answer. No sooner had he said that, did all three girls came racing towards them. Azula, using a pair of handcuffs attached to the cabling, fired her way to the gondola, as Mai and Ty Lee ran across it as a tightrope.

"I've been looking forward to this rematch." Zuko said.

"So have I." Suki had been counting the day to when she would be able to take revenge on the ones who had put her in prison. Now would be her chance to do so, not to mention let off a little steam.

Though Sokka and N'Dare had no real reason to want revenge or a rematch, they followed Suki and Zuko to the top of the gondola. The four of them waited until their soon to be attackers reached them. Sokka unsheathed his space sword, as N'Dare extended her staff. Zuko and Suki dipped into fight stances, as they readied themselves for the fight.

"Well Zuzu, it seems your taste in friends have changed since you've become a full blown traitor. It's to bad father won't be here to see me kill you." Azula's words were like poison. She took pleasure in tormenting her brother, and knew that it would cause him to be sloppy. Zuko didn't bother to respond to her words, he only narrowed his eyes, waiting for her to make a move.

Azula gladly obliged him, sending a massive wall of fire heading directly towards Zuko and Sokka. A few months ago, that attack could have probably work against Zuko, but now things were different. He was able to break through her attack, then following through with his own. He and Sokka worked like a well oil machine. While Zuko would counteract her fire blast, Sokka was lunge with his sword. The battle was split into three. While Zuko and Sokka double teamed Azula, and Suki and Ty Lee had their rematch, N'Dare was left alone to fend herself against the shuriken throwing Mai.

N'Dare was able to deflect the daggers with the staff, but there was something about the girl that caused her to be cautious around her. She fought with so much intensity, that N'Dare couldn't predict her moves as easily as she could with others. There was a fire, a hatred burning in the girl's eyes, and whatever it was that caused that fire, it directed itself at N'Dare. There was only so much that N'Dare was able to dodge, having a few of the daggers scrap passed her arms, legs and face. The fighting only lasted for a few minutes before someone yelled out.

Sometime "Cut the cables!" the warden yelled to the guards standing on the platform. during the scuffle onto of the gondola, the warden had managed to free his hands of their bonds.

"They're going to cut the ropes!" Ty Lee screamed. Everyone tuned to see that the men had brought out a huge saw, and began to cut the ropes.

"Girls, it's time for us to go. Goodbye Zuzu." Azula taunted before she launched herself on a passing gondola. Mai froze for a second as she looked to Zuko. She was torn between wanting to save him and her fear of what would happen if she disobeyed Azula. Soon her fear won out, and she joined Azula and Ty Lee on the retreating gondola.

"What are we going to do?!" Suki asked nervously. There was no way that they would make it to the other side in time. No one said anything as they cable started to buckle; there was nothing that anyone of them could do now, besides hope for a miracle.

Without a second thought, N'Dare began to act. She wasn't sure if she was ready to take on such a huge task, or if it would even work, but she at least had to try. She returned her staff to her waist, as she closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Her shoulders relaxed and her chin touched her chest as she let herself listen to the sound of the wind. She could feel her mind stretch out, as she tried to coax the wind into propelling them to the other end of the lake. Zuko and Sokka only watched as N'Dare clothes fluttered in the wind. They were the only two who knew who and what N'Dare really was, but that was all about to change.

Then without warning, the cable holding the gondola snapped, sending all aboard falling to their deaths. Well almost everyone. N'Dare was only vaguely aware that she was no longer standing on solid ground. All she could do was chant over and over in her mind.

'Concentrate… concentrate, or they'll all die' her mind screamed. With one final mental tug, N'Dare felt her connection with the air around her, and with that revelation, he eyes snapped open, revealing milky pools.

"NOOOO!" N'Dare outstretched her hand, almost as if she was trying to swiftly catch an object falling to the floor. Accordingly, the wind responded to her physical gestures, creating an updraft beneath that gondola, mere seconds before it hit that boiling water.

The occupants of the aforementioned gondola were in shock. Even Zuko and Sokka held their breath as they felt the hot lick of the steam creep its way up to the roof of the gondola. Zuko only stared with surprised eyes as he watched N'Dare's hovering form summon the gondola closer towards the Cliffside. She had almost gotten it onto land, when the strain started to wear on her, causing a momentary slip in her control.

That one slip caused the air carrying the gondola to falter ever so slightly, pitching Zuko over its side. N'Dare only acted on instinct. Using a powerful gust of wind, she threw the gondola the rest of the distance, before falling into a nose dive after Zuko. He had fallen no more the ten feet before he felt arms snake around his midsection, halting his fall. When he turned to look over his shoulder, he made eye contact with a relieved N'Dare.

"Sorry about that. I kind of slipped a little." N'Dare gave an apologetic smile.

"I think you did it on purpose." Even after that trying ordeal, Zuko managed to smile. He was happy that this was all over, and that they would be leaving the Boiling Rock soon.

With Zuko firmly in her arms, N'Dare crested the lip of the mountain. When she reached the others, who were all wide eyed as they looked at her, she gently landed next to Sokka. When her feet touched ground, N'Dare was finally faced with the exhaustion that came with that display of power. She was slightly weaker than she was only moments before, but she managed to keep herself from passing out completely.

"If it's okay with you guys, I'd like to go now." N'Dare managed between breathes.

Those left at the prison could only try to grasp what they had just witnessed. Something that everyone that was impossible had just transpired before all of them, there was another air bender alive. And while most tried to understand what that meant, only Azula really understood the implications. She would have to alert her father immediately, if they were to deal with this properly.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Katara, Aang and Toph were sitting around the campfire, when Momo began to screech and holler. At first they simply thought that he was excited because he seen Sokka heading back to the temple. Sokka, N'Dare and Zuko had been missing for two days. They only clue they had was a note written by Sokka saying that they went out to get meat. So it came as a surprise when what they saw not the group that had been missing, but a Fire Nation war balloon five times the size of Zuko's. Before the group had time to register what was going on, the door opened to reveal Sokka, Zuko and a slightly disheveled N'Dare.

"Where have you guys been?!" the relief was evident in Katara's voice as she hugged her brother.

"Did you get the meat? Toph asked excitedly. "I'm tired of eating berries all day."

"We got the best meat of all. The meat of family and togetherness." Sokka said. Behind Sokka, three figures emerged out of the balloon. Suki followed by a rather large man, and to Katara's joy, her father. Katara rushed to her dad, only pausing for a second to make sure this was just a dream, before hugging him tightly.

"Dad… Sokka how did this happen? Where did you three go?" Katara asked with tear filled eyes. However, it wasn't Sokka who answered her question.

"To the gates of hell and back. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tired, and dirty and hungry. But for right now, I'll settled for just tired. See you guys in the morning." N'Dare said as she made her way pass the group in into the temple. All their questions could be answered in the morning. At this moment, all N'Dare wanted to do was sleep for at least a week.

To be continued…

A/N: Another chapter completed, and it's like I said in my other author's note, this one was long. Over 12,500 words long to be exact. It's now 4:00am and I'm so tired, I'm seeing double of everything. I'll ask that you forgive any errors, since I still haven't found a replacement beta. If anyone is willing to lend a helping hand, I'm more than willing to take offers. Until next time everybody.


	17. Story update

This is a little update to all of my readers. I know I have been M.I.A. and for that, I'm sorry. Times have changed and I relocated to another city and state… but enough of that. If there is anyone left who are still interested in reading this story, simply leave a review to express your interest and I'll be posting chapters soon after.. Again, sorry about the long absence.


	18. FATE OF THIS STORY

ITS OFFICAL! CHAPTER UPDATES WILL COMMENCE IMMEDIATLEY! THANKS YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE LOVE AND I'LL TRY NOT TO LET YOU DOWN. ANYONE WHO'S INTERESTED IN BOUNCING IDEAS WITH ME TO KEEP THE CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING, PLEASE FILL FREE TO EMAIL ME….


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